Saving Life
by UsagiLovesDuochan
Summary: One mech on the edge of being offlined, another mech realises his past. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of the enemy? If you happen to be ops–you collect your answers of course. slash, P/J, Bayver
1. Prologue

Title: Saving Life  
>Part: Prologue12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl

Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:

Vorn - 83 years  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And** not to forget**, much **thanks** to Taralynden for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic '**Story of a lifetime**' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>Something was wrong. He could feel it again, an annoying sense of wrongness. And of course it had to happen in the middle of battle. If he could only point out what exactly it was, the source of these strange feelings. Pit, to be forced to admit to the existence of these feelings at all. He was a Decepticon! He did not have feelings, nothing besides anger and hate towards the damn Autobots, at least. And a thirst for fight, power and destruction. That was what he was. Still sometimes there was a nagging in the back of his processor that he was missing an important clue. But no matter what he tried, ignoring it, trying to remember, he could not make the feeling go away entirely.<p>

When his superiors found out about his problem, he got partnered with Frenzy. It was the main reason he had ended up with the little glitch here on Earth on their current mission. Every time he got this strange feeling of unease, Frenzy would do something to his processor and the world cleared again. But the small Cassetticon was not here now, therefore there was no hope for help from that quarter.

Dodging a stray shot from Ironhide, he retreated back to the alley he had been hiding in from the moment his glitch acted up again. Lately when this strange feeling surfaced he was not able to fight well. He always ended up distracted, craving to solve the mystery and get done with it. But he could not.

Suddenly the Autobots called out. He vaguely heard shouts of "It's Megatron!" and through a haze he watched most of the hateful enemies retreat from their current position. Oh yes, Lord Megatron was stronger than all of them together. Those weaklings had no chance now.

The unease grew. He watched in a daze as the smallest of the group, Jazz, bravely stood up to the big Decepticon leader. He did not even realise his tanks suddenly seemed to want to purge themselves. He barely registered the unusual panic that overtook his body the moment the small second in command was snatched into the air by the larger Decepticon. He only came to his senses exactly the instant he somehow grasped that Megatron wanted to rip the small Autobot into pieces. His air tanks burned, his spark raced and twisted in an unexplainable amount of unbearable pain.

As if from a distance, he heard the denying scream of "NO!" not really realising it was his own. It took less than klicks for a hidden case in his back to open and two rockets fired up at Megatron. It was far too late – when they finally hit, Jazz's body was nearly torn into two.

Megatron clearly had no idea who had hit him but it distracted the Decepticon enough to throw the mangled body of the Autobot to the ground and turn his senses to the Allspark. By that time he himself was left clutching his sparkcase; the shock of the obviously dying Autobot left him with unbearable pain and activated a program that started to work through his body, fighting against a virus he hadn't even known was there. Memories suddenly surfaced - true memories. His current life was acknowledged as wrong, the past he thought he had known as truth now acknowledged as fake and manipulated. The truth came to light, the real past, the one he had fought so long and hard to not lose. In the end, he had not been able to hold on, his memories put back behind a firewall he was never supposed to break. However he at least had the satisfaction of knowing that he never gave away any information, not even after his personality change.

Trying desperately to get air through his vents to cool his slowly overheating body, Barricade crawled out of the alley. The fight had wandered to a further place. A human troop took out Brawl, while that human boy Sam tried to outrun Megatron, an impossible task but one which favoured him. No one noticed his sudden appearance on this abandoned part of the battlefield.

Barricade's movements were slow. The pain that by now was affecting his whole body into the very last bolt kept him from going fast. He was not able run or even walk. It was a miracle that he had not gone offline from the immense pain already. Bit for bit he crawled his way through the destroyed streets, the sounds of the fight not registering in his audios. It seemed to take hours but finally, finally he reached his destination.

Jazz was in a horrible state. His body nearly torn into half, only a few cables keeping the two parts together. He must hurt terribly. Somehow he was still online, his visor shining a slight, soft blue, but the police cruiser was not sure if the saboteur was aware of his surroundings anymore. It seemed, though fighting to stay online, he was far, far away within his processor. And then he felt it. The slight nudge at his spark, like a soft whisper. The bond was open on both sides.

Barricade suspected that his buffer broke when the shock to his spark caused his processor to act and finally purge the virus. In Jazz's case he could only guess. There was love sent to him. Love and an apology. Jazz wanted to warn him, to prepare him for what was going to happen. He did not want to leave his bonded unaware of the hopeless situation.

Jazz did not know that he was already aware, painfully aware. But he also did not know that his reckless actions had saved Barricade's life, as strange as might sound. Sending his own feelings of love back as strong as he could, he also added some determination and a plea to not give up yet.

It took a lot of willpower to fight through the pain but the Ford Mustang Saleen bent down and took the broken frame of his bonded into his arms. He had noticed a building around the corner that seemed to be abandoned even before the attacks on the city. If the humans and Autobots by a higher miracle were able to turn the tides and win this encounter with Megatron, he was sure that that building would be the last to be taken care of when it came to rebuilding the city.

It seemed to take forever to reach the building, his every step a struggle, even though it was only two jumps away for a Cybertronian. Jazz was at the end of his strength. Barricade was barely able to feel their connection anymore, even though he held his bonded close to his chest plates. The Autobot's spark was too weak, the injury too great for self repair to start.

Under normal circumstances there would have been no way to save the special ops agent. However, what Jazz needed was to strengthen his spark, and as his bondmate this was something Barricade could offer. The strengthening and self repair would take time, a long time, especially without the help of a medic. But it was worth the risk and wait if it meant his bonded would live. They could not die yet, there was still a lot to do, be it repenting his past actions or spending time with the one he had missed for so long.

Laying the wounded Autobot saboteur to the ground the police cruiser dragged himself back to the door to close it. The last thing he took in of the outside world was the human teenage boy thrusting the Allspark into Megatron's spark. He did not have time to dwell on the unfortunate fact of losing the Allspark, but a small part of his processor noticed that there may still be hope left for the Autobots. None of it mattered though, when his optics fell back on his dying bondmate.

Kneeling beside Jazz he fingered for the hidden sensors that would open up the saboteur's sparkchamber. It opened slowly, the body barely able to carry out the instruction at all. The light of the spark should have shined into Barricade's face, bathing him with light and energy. Instead there was barely any light left, just a small golden shimmer and even that was quickly fading now.

He did not have time left to waste. Acting quickly he activated the opening of his own sparkchamber and bent down. The last thing he heard before their sparks connected and the strength, needed for this particular performance, forced him offline, was the barely whispered words, a familiar voice and a familiar name.

"M'sorry Prowler."

Then there was darkness.

tbc...


	2. Chapter 1

Title: **Saving Life**  
>Part: 112  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl

Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:

Vorn - 83 years  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And **not to forget**, much **thanks** to Taralynden for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>Darkness. First like nothingness. Then came feelings. Happiness about life, contentment slowly evolving to worry. Anger, frustration, fear. Determination, a will to fight. Impression of a first meeting, mutual dislike. Fighting, anger, frustration. Then the first whispers of grudging respect, slowly, oh so slowly developing into friendship. And suddenly there was attraction, shyness, boldness, love? Followed by denial, giving in to lust. A request, followed by a fight. Frustration, self-loathing, a want to stay away battling a stronger need to return. Acceptance at the very last, a lost fight, giving in, wanting to protect. A bond, love and cherishment but also urgency for secrecy and the awareness of breaking rules. Buffering and masking feelings, long time of getting to know, comradeship, devastation, determination to succeed, separation, loneliness.<p>

And suddenly there was pain, hot, searing pain accompanied by the strong urge of being sorry, of asking for forgiveness. Then, suddenly familiarity and recognition, a plea not to give up. And the darkness turned into a hazy, comfortable shade. It no longer hurt, it no longer burned. He felt himself float, simply basking in the feel of another presence within him, a well known, trusted presence. Nearly all the time, that presence within him stayed close. Just sometimes, for a period that could not be determined in a world without time, the presence seemed to draw away a bit, yet never leaving him entirely. The more often it happened the more aware he became of details. As though both their strengths seemed to waver and weaken slowly until finally that presence retreated a bit. And when it returned full force, staying as near as it could again, he felt its regrown strength which was shared with him.

That cycle repeated again and again for a long time in his dark hazy world. But eventually the feeling of contentment was replaced by the small nagging feeling of emerging, the longing to get out of the darkness, to stop floating and become aware again. And because he was never one to act against his own instincts, he gave in and left the safe haven of the haze.

Jazz came back online after three long years in stasis lock.

The first thing he noticed when his CPU powered up to awareness was pain. His whole middle felt as if someone had crushed a big Cybertronian building into it. Or maybe as if he had been cut into two. Then the first memories filtered in through his hazy mind and he sheepishly realised the latter described well enough what had happened to him.

He remembered his reason to take on Megatron, knowing full well that he had not much of a chance to survive it. In fact he was surprised that he was indeed obviously still alive and he certainly did not hover over the brick of joining the Matrix as was the last thing he remembered doing.

Curious as to what kind of state his body was after the nasty encounter with the Decepticon leader, the special ops agent enabled his check-up programs for a quick scan. His functions seemed to take a bit longer than normal, which could have been because he was low on energy. Instead of the usual two astroseconds it took more than six before he was presented with the results.

Unsurprisingly most of the problems came from his mid-section. Reports showed him a nearly half finished repair that shockingly resulted mostly from self-repair. His insides and plating must have been rejoined by sheer physical force. Not a job of a medic, that was for sure. Anyway, with wounds like these there should not have been any self repair possible. There should not have been anything possible, not even with a medic. His spark had taken too much of a toll, it should have extinguished from the damage.

Speaking of his spark, that earned a status report as well. It was weak. Not in danger of termination but still weak from the damage to his body and the lack of energon. He was running on just barely enough to stay alive. Yet, his spark was supported. His check-up program could not recognize the source of the outside strength, but that was not necessary. There was only one sensation like this and he would recognize the feeling anywhere.

The additional strength to his spark originated from his bonded, from Prowl. The Autobot tactician must have found him. And kept him alive by sparkmerging, loaning his spark's energy when Jazz's own could no longer support his damaged frame. That at least would have explained what he felt during his drifting in offline mode. The strength generated by their reunion had sustained him, but of course his bonded would have needed to fuel himself, therefore breaking the merge from time to time after Jazz's spark became strong enough to endure it.

With the system report and the analyses of what he was feeling, it was, as his bonded would have said, the only logical explanation for Jazz's current situation. Yet it made no sense at all. He certainly remembered that there had been no Autobot landings on Earth during the time they fought. There had been no Autobots at all, at least not inside their communication range and that went as far as a three orns journey beyond Earth's orbit.

And Jazz was certain he was not deluded enough to not remember that his wounds were fatal; enough to offline him within breems, he had certainly not had joors or orns. So how could Prowl have arrived in time? Curiosity ate at his processor, but in spite of all that the saboteur could not help but relish in the feeling of having his spark once again united with his bondmate's.

No matter the strange circumstances and the questions they raised, first and foremost he wanted to see his bonded, to confirm with his own optics what he felt in his spark. He knew his body was finally ready for a full wake up call, and even though everything still felt a bit sluggish, Jazz ordered his systems to life and his optics to come online.

Expecting to see glowing blue optics and maybe a worried but familiar faceplate, it was no wonder that even a mech as well trained as Jazz found himself shocked motionless when his optics came online and the sight that greeted him was unwelcome red optics surrounded by a frighteningly familiar black face with sharp angles.

Jazz had never personally had the pleasure of dealing with this mech. But just like his fellow comrades who reached Earth with him, he had received a detailed report from Bumblebee right after their reunion. Barricade, the mysterious Decepticon who had arrived with Starscream long orns before their own Autobot scout, had certainly taken care to make Bee's life difficult on Earth.

The Autobots certainly wondered about Barricade, because none of them had ever heard of that particular Decepticon during their endless war. And from the reports Bumblebee gave them, he sounded like a nasty piece of work. Certainly not one of the many unnoticed soldiers Megatron liked to use as cannon fodder.

But of course with the whirlpool of events following without a break, no-one had time to ponder over this new Decepticon too much. There had been more important things to take care of. And then they had been fighting in the human city and Megatron appeared. Jazz had never imagined he might have to deal with the mysterious Decepticon soldier right after awakening from a near-death experience.

No-one could have said that the head of special ops was not quick to gather his wits and he wasted no time in overcoming the first shock and assessing his current situation. His first instinct was to get away from that far too close face, but he realised quickly enough that he was far too weak to move much. There was also the problem of Barricade's body laying completely over his own, pressing him more or less into the ground. Not to mention that it would not be a good idea to rip out of a deep sparkmerge like this.

And that was where Jazz's processor came to a sliding halt. Sparkmerge? He blinked a second before taking a closer analysis of his condition. His first impression had been red optics, meaning enemy. Naturally that observation followed a sweep over the area for a possible escape. The sparkmerge had been at the far back of his processor, as well as the still open connection with his bondmate. But now he realised that things were not adding up.

For one, taking a closer look into Barricades faceplates, he realised that the Decepticon was barely able to look at him, even though he must be aware that Jazz was online. Additionally his body was trembling as if in fear. Now that he was really paying attention he noticed that the whole body, the way the hands steadied their position, looked like the 'Con was torn between staying just as he was or getting away from the weakened Autobot. That did not fit the description Bee had given him about the frontliner at all. Not to mention the fact that he was unable to fight anyway.

Then there was his bond. The feelings he received from his bondmate were conflicting. It was far from the usual, calm and ordered demeanour. There was an assurance of Jazz being safe. But at the same time there was fear, desperation and a worrying amount of shame. He also felt a conflict there. A conflict of wanting to stay close to his bondmate, to keep the connection and strengthen him. Yet, he also did not want to frighten him, wished to give him space so he could calm and take full access of the situation.

But, keeping the connection close when his bondmate was not even near him? And with a start realised that the emotions he felt through the bond, matched the expression of the mech that leaned over him perfectly. They fit together as if they belonged. They DID belong!

Blue visor glowing bright with shock, surprise and various other emotions, Jazz reached out through the bond, touching the consciousness of his precious bonded, the one thing that could not be faked or broken by anything, not even death.

/Prowler?/

He asked tentatively through the bond and the whole body of the Decepticon above him shuddered in response.

/Jazz!/

Prowl's answer returned through the bond, a plea, a desperate cry and relief at the same time. Jazz could not help the shock and disbelief he felt about the whole situation. Reaching out weakly with one hand he slowly touched the face above him. The face that screamed of stranger, of enemy, yet was undeniably also the face of the one mech that held a part of his spark - literally.

"Prowler, what did they do t' ya?" he croaked, out of his vocalizer this time. There was no question about who caused this shocking change in appearance. If nothing else was clear, the culprit was beyond obvious. Prowl looking like a DECEPTICON? Only the 'Cons could be behind this.

Prowl was no ops mech, never had been, therefore it was unthinkable that he had taken up a false appearance for an undercover mission, no matter how bad things might have turned out to be back on Cybertron. It was stupid and illogical to put a mech into a position that did not fit him, especially in a war.

And Prowl had been the highest ranking officer left in Cybertron. He was head of their tactical office and the original second in command. Jazz had been more or less forced to take on that position as second with Optimus when they started their journey in search for the Allspark and Prowl had to be left behind to take command of the Autobots fighting on Cybertron.

No, Prowl would never have come up with or agreed to a mission that would have had him disguised as a Decepticon. The risk was too high and the consequences in case of exposure would have been devastating. Besides his bonded was not able to perform a technique like sorcelling to conceal his identity. The body Jazz was looking at was the real one, the original. Reformatting was the first thing that came into his mind.

It must have swept through the bond as well because he could feel the confirmation of his suspicion along with a sense of deep violation. This change of appearance happened more than just against his will. Anger at the Decepticons and desperation for the situation of his bonded, no matter how little understanding of the whole picture he had right now, flooded the bond from Jazz's side as he reached out with both hands. He grabbed the head of the mech above him and gently guided it so their foreheads could touch in an intimate gesture of assurance and comfort.

And as quickly as the feelings of anger and desperation had surfaced, they vanished again, leaving behind by a feeling of utter exhaustion. Prowl immediately realised the situation with the weakening grip of Jazz's hands on his face as well as through the bond. Not daring to use his voice, the voice so different than his original one, he reached out through their bond again.

/Recharge, Jazz. You are still injured and weak. You need to conserve your energy./

Stubbornness answered him, but it quickly turned into grudging admittance.

/All right Ah giv' in for now, Prowler. But th' next time Ah'm awake Ah will get answers from ya. Ah want t' know what's goin' on. No, Ah NEED t' know what's goin' on./

Prowl nodded his head. He knew his bonded well enough to realise that he could not hold out on the explanation for long. It had been in the back of his processor long before Jazz had shown the slightest signs of awakening.

/Yes, you will get your answers. But for now, please recharge./

Obedient in his exhaustion, Jazz offlined his optics. For a moment he hovered over the bridge of recharge, relishing in the feeling of Prowl holding his body and their merged sparks. He noticed sluggishly that as long as he did not look, he could very well imagine that his Prowl was holding him with that beautiful body of his and he took a surprising lot of comfort from that fact.

/Hold meh close t' ya!/ he ordered before immediately falling into recharge. He never heard the whispered answer in his spark.

/Never letting go again, Jazz! Not if I can help it./

tbc...


	3. Chapter 2

First of all, thank you very much everyone who left some feedback in the first two parts of this story. It is absolutely appreciated.  
>And now on with the header and then the story.<p>

Title: Saving Life  
>Part: 212  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl

Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:

Vorn - 83 years  
>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months<br>Orn - 13 days  
>Joor - 8 hours<br>Breem - 6 minutes  
>Astrosecond - 56ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And **not to forget**, much **thanks** to Taralynden for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>When Jazz came online again he felt a lot better than the last time. At least processor-wise. His body was still a mess and he could feel that everything would continue to react slowly, but his processor felt sharp and quick as it was supposed to. He was not disorientated this time. He remembered exactly what happened after he landed on Earth. He recalled the fight, his choices, his near-death and the reason why he was not dwelling reunited with his bondmate in the Well of Allsparks. And he clearly remembered he had questions.<p>

Onlining his optics he was greeted with the now anticipated red optics and face of a Decepticon that never was one to begin with. They were in the same position as last time: Prowl's body covered his and their sparkcases were open, sparks joined in a deep merge.

Sadly, nothing about this merge was pleasurable as it would be under normal circumstances. This was not simply about intimacy, of sharing love and emotions. This was about strength and saving life. Their sparkmerge did not hurt, would never hurt. But it felt a bit like their first tries to produce a sparkling together back on Syrenex. There was no active sharing of emotions, of the passion of their love, nothing of heat and desire.

Deciding the whole situation was serious enough as it was, Jazz gave it a small try to lighten the mood at least a little bit.

"Heya there, Sparkles. Funny but finally Ah think Ah can imagine how ya might've felt that time we played around with mah sorcelling techniques," the ops mech croaked out, his vocalizer still not fully functioning yet.

Vorns and vorns of knowing Jazz, accompanied by the bond that reflected the intentions quite well, Prowl rewarded the attempt at humour with the smallest, saddest smile Jazz had ever seen on his bonded's faceplates. Sighing, Prowl shook his head like he had done so many times in the past in exasperation to the saboteur's mannerisms.

"Jazz!" he whispered, his voice rough and foreign in the other's audios. Their foreheads touched, just like they had the last time Jazz was awake and for some astroseconds he decided to forget where he was and under what conditions. Both mechs simply relished in the feel of their bond, their nearness to each other and their love.

Oh how had they missed this. Prowl felt like eternity had gone by, after Jazz's departure, even though only a vorn passed before his whole world had been turned blank. For Jazz it was even worse, because he had been conscious all those passing vorns right until the day Megatron had nearly ripped him into two. No discoveries of new worlds, strange life specimens and introductions into different cultures on their search for the Allspark had ever displaced the loneliness he felt with the separation from his bondmate.

Worse was that Jazz had to do his damnedest to hide any hints of a bond from his commanding Prime and the rest of his comrades. Bonding was an unspoken, forbidden act among the Autobots, because the death of one mate would cause the elimination of the other as well. It was a disadvantage during the war especially since bonded pairs required the cherishment of their union over everything else.

At the beginning bonded pairs had been sent off with the Neutrals, the one group of Cybertronians that refused to join either side of the war. The Autobots once even helped to build a sanctuary for the Neutrals to hide them from the Decepticons' wrath. Unfortunately they were found and a massacre took place that left Neutrals and Autobots deeply affected and drove a rift through their relationship that had yet to heal.

After the loss of contact with the Neutrals, no-one was sure what would happen if a bonded pair ever crossed paths with the Autobots. And Jazz and Prowl sure as the pit were not willing to find out first hand with themselves as the example.

Their case was different anyway. Bonded long before they obtained their positions as second and third in command, Prowl had found a way to buffer their bond from the very beginning. It was never able to erase their awareness of each other and the range to feel that had grown as they became the highest ranking officers after Prime and had a chance to stay and work together a lot.

However with the buffer in place they could not freely share their emotions nor communicate over the bond as normal pairs would have done. Both of them were mechs with exceptional gifts needed for the war. They were devoted to the cause and they had agreed and sworn that the war would come first and their relationship second. It was a hard price to pay, but it was a necessary sacrifice for a small hope that maybe, just maybe, they could help cause a miracle and end the war. An end that would initiate a normal life for everyone, and a happy life as a bonded couple for them.

With the buffer in place no one had ever noticed the difference. They had worked as effectively as ever and even though some of their decisions in the war caused heavy disagreements that carried over to their private relationship as well, they had managed. They had never been like ordinary bonded couples.

That didn't mean that a separation did not affect them. They just tended to cope with it better than others. Jazz and Prowl had been well known as sparkbonded, a description for a couple that would certainly be bonded, were it not for the war. Therefore it was of course okay for the saboteur to show a certain amount of sadness and desire for his missing sparkmate. He just had to be careful that no one saw how it affected his spark as much as his emotional centre.

Meister, as was his official ops name, the name he could remember bearing longest, though it was certainly not his original designation, could not remember a longer amount of time where he was forced to pull the mask of "Jazz" this tight.

But everything shattered now as they hold each other close. The buffer between them was long gone and at this instant as they had their first real taste of being so intimately aware of the other, they already knew in their sparks that they could never give it up again. It was exactly why they had never before dared to turn off the buffer at the same time, if ever, because they already suspected the outcome if temptation ever hit them.

Basking in the feeling of the other for a while longer, Jazz was the first one to remember the situation they were in and with a grimace he gripped his bonded closer to himself for comfort while sending his questions over the bond.

/Prowler, as much as Ah hate t' interrupt this time of our's, Ah need t' know what's goin' on. What happened t' ya an' do ya know what happened after Ah went offline in Mission City?/

He stopped for moment when another realisation hit his processor.

"An' as an afterthought, do ya know how long Ah was outa it? Ah think Ah kinda lost mah sense of time here", he added sheepishly aloud, his vocalizer crackling only once in the process. Which was an improvement, all things considered.

* * *

><p>Prowl sent air through his vents in an act to calm down his nerves and cool his overheating body. He knew they could not hold off on the inevitable forever. They were far too professional for that. Besides, if war had taught them one thing it was that delaying did nothing but turn unpleasant situations even worse.<p>

However, Jazz certainly would not blame him if he staked just a bit more by answering the last question first.

/The first time you were offline for about six stellar-cycles. I think that is about three whole rotations around this sun by the Earth. After your awakening you recharged for another one and a half orns. Not too long of a time, which leaves me to hope that you are getting better. At last soon you should be safe to survive all on your own spark again, Jazz./

* * *

><p>The saboteur stayed silent for a moment, contemplating the answer he got to gather the whole meaning of his current situation.<p>

/Ah've missed a lot happenin', didn' Ah?/ he wondered over their bond. Then he looked up at his bonded, who was captured in the guise of a Decepticon. Sadly, Jazz stroke over the other's faceplate with tender claws.

/Seems Ah've missed even more about yerself. Tell me, Sparkles, what happened?/

As if a dam had broken lose, emotions swept over the bond into Jazz's spark. Fear, anger, humiliation, failure and through it all an even greater amount of a wish for comfort, to feel Jazz and bask in his love. The saboteur could barely remember a time where Prowl had been this desperate for contact. And it seemed the tactician did not know where to begin with his tale at all.

Jazz however had a better solution. He realised that the story was beyond painful for his bonded. And while telling was supposed to help a great deal, there could be a better way to offer Prowl an outlet.

"Don' tell meh, Sparkles", he suggested softly. "Show meh what happened. Share yer memories wit' meh over th' bond."

* * *

><p>Prowl immediately realised where his mate was going with this. Sharing his memories would mean sharing everything, including feelings over what happened. He would not be forced to bear his feelings alone. Jazz offered to split them, lighten the burden.<p>

But in the tactician's opinion that meant he had to burden Jazz with feelings he was not supposed to carry. His reason to hesitate must have leaked through the bond, because the saboteur was quick to answer with his own reasoning over their bond.

/It's supposed t' be that way, Sparkles. T' share th' burden, that's how we should deal wit' it. Think about it. If it were th' other way around would ya not insist tha' Ah share mah burden wit' ya?/

There was nothing Prowl could say against this. He was a mech built on logic and of course it was only logical that he would to anything in his power help the one he loved, the one he shared part of his spark with, if he was in distress or danger.

He had stalled as long as he could. But now he knew he was out of time. Jazz needed to see what happened to understand the current situation, no matter the consequences.

Lowering himself even more onto the still-not-healed Autobot special ops agent, Prowl embraced his bondmate's body as tight as he could with the current wounds. The connection between their united sparks became even more intense, the ball of sparks flaring with light and energy.

/Hold me!/ The red opticed Autobot tactician simply pleaded.

/Always!/ Jazz answered fiercely, tightening his embrace, even though it hurt some of his still-healing wounds. 'Ah'll catch ya! Never doubt Ah've ever let go, Sparkles.'

He could feel Prowl nod against his shoulderplating. And then his spark was flooded with memories.

tbc...


	4. Chapter 3

Thank you very much for the feedback I received. It's very much appreciated and very inspiring.  
>Now enjoy the next chapter!<p>

Part: 3/12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:

Vorn - 83 years  
>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months<br>Orn - 13 days  
>Joor - 8 hours<br>Breem - 6 minutes  
>Astrosecond - 56ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And not to **forget**, much thanks to **Taralynden** for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>Things went downhill soon after the group around Optimus had left in search for the Allspark. At first, the Autobots held the advantage of being organised; Megatron's sudden disappearance having left the Decepticons in confusion and disarray. Prowl had been the one to suggest taking advantage of the hierarchy chaos in the enemy's rank to send off their own search party after the Allspark without the Decepticons noticing.<p>

Sadly enough Starscream was far quicker in gaining command for himself than anyone anticipated. While they could not prevent Optimus and his team leaving without a trace, they were aware of the search and furious about the Autobots' success.

Nearly caught off guard, the Autobots had to fend off an attack that held just as much of the usual viciousness as it would have had under Megatron. Worse, the attack caused the whole force to split into different teams all around Cybertron. That was especially hard on Prowl because he lost contact to the twins who had always been his most faithful support when Jazz was absent.

In the beginning they thought it was only coincidence and luck on the Decepticons' side, but when they realised that Soundwave had successfully jammed their communications - therefore preventing the split groups reuniting - it was clear to Prowl that the attack had just happened as the Decepticons planned.

After the split in their forces, regular attacks took place and it was all the Autobots could do to prevent too many casualties. Prowl reckoned the Decepticons' plan was to destroy their forces by attacking their weakened groups and he concentrated all his energy in preventing just that.

It never occurred to him that the real aim could be the capture of a certain Autobot. The capture of himself, to be precise. He only recognised the real danger when one attack forced him to go out into the fight personally and he suddenly found himself restrained in the arms of Skywarp who used his unusual technique of warping to get the Autobot tactician into enemy territory without a fight.

By the time he realised what had happened it was already too late. He stood bound and half offline in front of a gleeful Starscream. Just one look around told the tactician and current commander of the Autobot forces that his situation was hopeless. And he immediately remembered the promise, he and Jazz made, long ago when they decided to bond.

* * *

><p>Jazz had taken a long time to be won over to the idea of bonding. While for Prowl it was the most logical choice to be always aware of his lover whose life was constantly on the line by more and more dangerous ops missions, Jazz had declared Prowl mad and obsessed the very first time he asked his lover to bond.<p>

It ended with Jazz leaving in a huff of anger and Prowl believing that he just lost the mech he had fallen in love with and wanted to be with forever. However, it turned out that the saboteur came to realise he was just as obsessed about Prowl as the tactician was over him. Prowl did not speak about bonding again after they got back together. It was Jazz, who broached the topic the next time, much to Prowl's astonishment.

The war had gone worse and worse, and Prowl came to the attention of the higher ranks with his strategies, therefore becoming a valuable object of information should the Decepticons ever get their hands on him. Jazz realised from the start that should his lover end up in Decepticon hands he would be tortured for sure, and he could not bear that thought at all.

Consequently, the saboteur made a promise. He would bond with Prowl, even at the high risk of an ops mission failing and him getting both of them killed. It would, however, ensure that should Prowl himself ever get caught, Jazz would be able to end everything on his terms, making sure that Prowl would die without ever suffering a single torture session.

The war had continued after their bonding and Prowl soon found that Jazz was indeed right to assume that Prowl was not made to withstand torture, learning the hard way when his own superior turned out to be a Decepticon spy attacking Prowl in their own office.

* * *

><p>Being in the hands of Decepticons now, Prowl recollected his poor intolerance to pain and his first instinct was to destroy the buffer of his bond and send a message to Jazz to inform his mate of the current situation. But then he remembered the very mission his bondmate was performing and the value of it.<p>

Everything in him, from logic centre to battle computer, told him that Jazz was needed for this task; that without him and his exceptional ops skills they might lose their only chance at getting the Allspark before Megatron. He knew that his bonded would certainly not be pleased, should they survive and he ever found out what Prowl did, but for now supporting Optimus' team was more important than anything else.

The Autobot commander decided against breaking the buffer and instead strengthened the unawareness already caused within their bond through distance. As low as his tolerance to torture might be, he would have to be brave and endure. And hope that he was able to hold out long enough til either a rescue team retrieved him, or he was terminated by the enemy.

With all the tactical scenarios as his battle computer could come up with, it never occurred to Prowl that the Decepticons might have a different plan with their prisoner in order to gain information.

After Starscream's speech about Prowl being the key for their victory, the Autobot commander had been taken offline. When he came online again he found himself strapped onto a berth, just as he expected. What he had not taken into account was waking up in a place that looked more like a medical bay instead of a torture chamber.

He recognised Starscream standing near the berth he was strapped to. There was also a second mech in the room though and that one sent shivers down Prowl's plating. Shockwave was well known by most Autobots, since he was the highest ranking scientist officer under the Decepticons and had a reputation for being cold sparked and beyond cruel in his experiments. That mech did not know any limit as long as it sated his scientific curiosity and brought the results Megatron expected.

The two Decepticons were unaware he had come out of his forced recharge, otherwise Prowl suspected they would have not discussed their current topic so openly in front of him.

"Are you sure this will work without complications, Shockwave?" Starscream asked the Decepticon scientist sceptically. "We cannot lose the life of this one, he is the only chance to find that damn Prime and his following idiots. We NEED him alive and with the knowledge he has intact."

The single eye of the Decepticon flashed brightly before Shockwave answered in a cool, clinical voice.

"The tests have all been successful, Lord Starscream. He will survive this. When he wakes up he will have lost his Autobot personality. He will be a loyal Decepticon who remembers infiltrating the Autobots and gaining valuable information from them. The virus can control what memories are destroyed and what is left untouched and twisted to our liking."

"Good."

The satisfied Seeker turned around and Prowl vaguely realised that he should have pretended to still be offline, but the shock of what he just heard was too deep. Even though the words were a bit vague, he was not head of tactics and the highest ranking commander after Optimus Prime for nothing - Prowl realised what the two Decepticons were talking about, as horrible and unbelievable as it sounded.

They never planned to torture the information out of him but to use him as guinea pig for a new experiment of Shockwave's that would force Prowl to lose everything he was and brainwash him into becoming a faithful Decepticon follower.

This was worse than death and far more damaging not only for himself but for his own people as well. He had been sparked and raised from the very beginning with the sole purpose to become a high ranking tactical officer that would be of use to the Autobots. He had always believed in the cause of the Autobots and the very idea of betrayal was like a stab into his spark.

To think that now he could be forced to betray without a choice, that was a nightmare Prowl never thought he would face. Suddenly it no longer mattered if he was willing to be brave or not, if Jazz was important to the mission of finding the Allspark or not. If the Decepticons succeeded in this plot, he would become a weapon that could completely destroy the Autobots. They would lose their most important tactical officer while in the same breath the Decepticons would gain just that.

Prowl could not let that happen. As Starscream started to curse and jump into action to reactivate the machine the tactician was connected to which would ensure his forced recharge, Prowl fought for time. He all but tore apart the buffer of his bond and was just to send his first impulse of distress through to his bondmate, when he realised that even though he gained the advantage of learning Starscream's plans for him, he was too late to prevent it.

Dizziness overwhelmed his processor and he lost all strength. He could not even think straight. Prowl felt as if he just went ten high grade sessions with the twins. The impulse he intended to send to his bondmate turned out too weak. He could feel how it got lost halfway through the bond.

He never had a chance. All that was left was the overwhelming feelings of panic and despair. What would become of him? What would happen to Jazz? Would his bonded ever find out what had happened? Would they someday end up fighting against the other, not knowing about the connection they had? Or would Jazz recognise his spark through the bond and not know what to think of it?

How could he leave Jazz like this? And the Autobots? Even though Starscream was wrong about him knowing anything about Optimus's location, he still held too much valuable information. Information that could get a lot of brave Autobots killed. And everything just because in a streak of bravery he decided that he could hold out through torture for the sake of the mission.

He should have contacted Jazz immediately. Hesitation should not have been Prowl's choice of action. And now everyone would be paying the price. Feeling his consciousness slipping, Prowl's last panicked thoughts were that he could not allow the Decepticons to destroy his personality and gather any information. Then there was blackness.

* * *

><p>The following orns had been the pit tenfold for Prowl. He never really gained consciousness again until that fateful day on that small planet called Earth in the human town with the designation 'Mission City'.<p>

Up until then he was - aware. Everything the new designated Decepticon Barricade did was watched as if through some thick fog. He was not even aware that Barricade was supposed to be him at first. It was more like he was watching a second mech's actions but restricted to never interfere. Oh but Prowl tried to, many, many times.

In the beginning of course, Barricade just woke out of recharge, confused as to where he was. Then memories filled him, false memories. To Starscream's utter dissatisfaction, Shockwave's virus provided the new Decepticon with a dedication to Megatron alone. Barricade was willing to tolerate Starscream as temporary leader but he was eager to find Megatron and get him to return as leader of the Decepticons.

Starscream must have secretly been hoping to mold Barricade after his own image, just like he had with his seekers, but he had not expected Shockwave's loyalty to Megatron with all the cold logic ruthlessness he possessed.

The second discovery that left Starscream highly displeased was the fact that Barricade was not able to access a single memory file concerning the Autotbots. It was as if the information had been destroyed together with the personality files Prowl possessed.

Strangely enough the tactician, who had been forced to watch the whole situation unfold in his surrounding fog, was able to recall every fond and important memory he possessed about the Autobots. And his memories were strangely enough not hindered by a fog or something else. He could recall his past clearly and without hindrance.

Starscream had thrown a mighty fit when he realised that the reformatted Prowl was not useful to him but then had discovered that he had at least access to Prowl's battle computer. He decided then and there, that if he could not have Prowl's valuable information about his fellow Autobots, then he could at least use Barricade's battle computer to gain the upper hand in the fight against the Autobots.

That had been the first time Prowl tried with all his might to fight against his invisible restrictions and the fog surrounding him. But it was all in vain. Helplessly Prowl had to watch Barricade fighting and winning against his fellow comrades. Then he had to endure as Starscream used Barricade to plan their own journey into space to find the Allspark. The tactician was reduced to nothing but an observer as Barricade used his precious battle computer to simulate scenarios and come up with the best route to take.

But one of the worst moments had been after Barricade arrived on Earth and found Bumblebee for the first time. The young scout was barely younger than Prowl himself and though the tactician had had not a lot to do with the yellow Autobot after he found him as one of the few survivors of the destroyed Neutral sanctuary, he was very aware that his bondmate valued the young Autobot greatly. The few times he had interacted with Bumblebee had always been pleasant. The young ops agent was mostly polite and easy going, even after everything he had been through.

Certainly he was the last mech after Jazz and Optimus that Prowl wanted to hurt. Yet as much as he fought against his invisible bonds and the fog surrounding him, he could only watch helplessly as Bumblebee was able to flee after receiving a few bangs and scratches.

Only one time had Prowl the feeling that he had been able to break through the fog and restrains, if only for an astrosecond. It was after Barricade found and cornered that human boy Sam. The resulting fight with Bumblebee left Prowl desperate and for the first time feeling something else besides hopelessness and defeat. Barricade had registered the call for help Bumblebee had sent into space and Prowl knew that soon his bondmate would arrive on Earth together with the rest of the Allspark search team.

And what would he find when he arrived? A terminated ops agent, some killed humans and a lost cause? And he, Prowl had done nothing but allow it to happen? Anger bubbled up deep inside the Autobot tactician's spark. Anger at the Decepticons, at Starscream and Shockwave in particular. Anger at the current situation and about his helplessness. And for an astrosecond, a beautiful, unbelievable astrosecond, Prowl was able to break through the fog and take control of the body that was supposed to be his, even though it did look far from that.

Truth to be told, an astrosecond could not really be counted as time at all, but in this situation it was enough. Barricade's halt for just that little moment helped Bumblebee to land a spectacular hit against the Decepticon that thrust him into a power pole, leaving him near offline.

Before Prowl could even register what just happened, Bumblebee had taken his two new charges and drove away, no doubt to meet up with the rest of his team. Forced into the same daze Barricade himself was in he watched, falling off- and online in between, as Ironhide, Ratchet, Optimus and Jazz, his beautiful, precious Jazz performed their entry into atmosphere.

* * *

><p>Barricade needed days to recover from the defeat he had suffered. During his time of healing he did not hear anything about the newly arrived Autotbots. It was not until he received Frenzy's gleeful message of having located Megatron and the Allspark that he got an idea of where the Autobots certainly must be located.<p>

Every Decepticon currently on Earth left their hiding place and headed into the direction of Megatron and the Allspark. Barricade met up with his current Decepticon comrades on the highway that lead to a big human town called Mission City. It was here that Prowl finally got his first glimpse of his bondmate after centuries of separation. Seeing Jazz right in the middle of the fight caused something to snap inside the tactician.

It was stronger, clearer and tighter than what he felt in any other situation, even back then with Barricade's fight against Bumblebee. Suddenly Prowl found some strength he had already doubted he might posses and literally fought tooth and nail against the fog surrounding him. He got strong enough to upset Barricade so much that the Decepticon was forced to fall out of the fight and simply watch from a small side street.

And then Jazz got caught by Megatron. It was like a dam had broken lose. The realisation that he was about to lose his bondmate right in front of his eyes and could do nothing about it, it was too much, too overwhelming. Prowl did not know how he did it but suddenly he was no longer restrained and no longer watching through fog. He was there, he was in control. He remembered, he acted, and by the end of the day he existed only to ensure his bondmate's survival.

The orns that followed after his final victory went by in a different kind of blur. The first three orns he spent offline simple because the strain of strengthening his mate's spark was so great. After Jazz's spark had stabilised just the slightest bit, Prowl was able to keep himself online during the day and recharged during the night. He hold out for another ten orns before his systems informed him that he was in an urgent need for energon or he would fall into stasis and maybe never wake up again, if he was not found.

Thankfully Jazz's spark was by then strong enough to endure nearly a joor without a sparkmerge. Prowl was very careful on his search for an energon substitute. After the fight in Mission City the damage within the town had been mostly rebuilt and the city was alive with humans again. Thankfully so far no one had cared much for the abandoned building, but Prowl was cautious to keep an eye on every bit of information the internet, TV and radio had to offer about the place he was currently hiding in.

He used Barricade's altform and the helpful avatar he possessed to provide an energon substitute in form of car fuel. Admittedly Prowl felt a bit bad for hacking into a foreign account to gain the money for payment, but his logical centre pointed out that this was an emergency and Jazz life was priority to him.

After his successful purchase of fuel, he returned to their hiding place and made sure that Jazz received his necessary amount of fuel as well. From then on, it all became routine. Watching during day, recharging during night, fuelling every sixth orn.

The routine only changed once. After nearly two stellar-cycles passed after the fight in Mission City, the humans finally set their eyes on the abandoned building Prowl and Jazz were hiding in. Plans for a tour to decide the further fate of the property were discussed over radio and internet.

The Autobot tactician realised immediately that it was time to abandon their safe haven and search for a new one. It took him joors of research but Prowl was lucky. Not too far outside the city was a small deserted farm for sale, with a barn big enough to host Jazz and himself away from prying eyes.

Another half a joor later and Prowl successfully obtained a trailer small enough for his altform to pull but big enough that Jazz could be hidden inside without upsetting his wounds too much. Again this was only accomplished because of Barricade's useful avatar.

Prowl and Jazz left Mission City in the depth of the night and arrived at their new 'home' before sunrise. Routine returned to the lone Autobot and his offline bondmate and more orns went by. Until finally, after such a long time of waiting, Jazz became strong enough to emerge from recharge for the first time after nearly five stellar-cycles.

* * *

><p>Jazz easily recognized the feelings of immense happiness and relief that accompanied the memory of his awakening. But he could also feel the fear and terror that grabbed his bondmate's spark at the question of what Jazz's reaction to him would be. The worst scenario being the denial of their bond as there was no way to break a consumed bond after it had settled.<p>

The Autobot saboteur decided that here was as good as any time to stop the memories and soothe his mate's worries and fears.

/Ah'm not plannin' t' ignore that nice little bond of ours ever/, he assured his mate through their spark connection. /An' neither do Ah hate or despise ya for what happened. The Decepticons would be a differen' matter but never doubt for a klick that Ah do not love ya!/

This reassurance had to do for now because both Jazz and Prowl could feel the exhaustion that sharing of memories and feelings over their spark connection had left them with. Sending small pulses of love and understanding through their bond Jazz gave in to the urge of recharge. He now knew what happened. And his realisations of what had been done to his Prowl could wait till the end of his recharge circle. As long as Prowl now was here, with him – safe and himself.

/Recharge/, he ordered his equally exhausted bondmate, reassuring him one last time over their bond. /We'll sort this out after recharge./

And as he slipped offline, he could feel an echo through his spark as his mate followed him into recharge.

tbc...


	5. Chapter 4

Due to a carefully reader pointing out that the signs for normal speech and bond speech are hard to distinguish, I decided to use a different sign for bond speech. You can find the information about speech signs in my header. I am also going to change the past chapters but it's nothing major, just decided that you should know about it. Thank you for "She How Heals", who pointed it out to me. ^^

And of course thanks again for the nice reviews I received. I am happy to hear that you liked the story so far. Now enjoy chapter four!

Part: 4/12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl

Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:

Vorn - 83 years  
>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months<br>Orn - 13 days  
>Joor - 8 hours<br>Breem - 6 minutes  
>Astrosecond - 56ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And **not to forget**, much thanks to **Taralynden** for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>Sharing and therefore reliving his own memories must have taken a lot out of Prowl, because when Jazz woke again from his next recharge he was surprised to find his bondmate still fully out of it. Since the saboteur's spark had become stronger and stronger, it was no longer necessary for them to merge their sparks constantly. Prowl had settled on connecting their sparks when he was awake. For recharge however he simply lay besides his bondmate and held him as close as he was able to with the still healing wounds.<p>

Too bad Jazz had been offline too much to enjoy their recharge position. It was like the re-establishment of an old routine, if not for his slight body discomfort. Still, no matter the past and what his precious bondmate currently looked like, for Jazz to be back in the tactician's arms after so, so many vorns was simply bliss and he continued to lie there on the ground just basking in the feeling of his mate's arms and the hum of their bond.

However, reality had a bad habit of catching up on him when he did not want it to and all too soon Jazz's mind wandered over the memories he had witnessed through their bond. Cold, unrelenting fury surfaced inside his spark, even before he realised it.

How dare they? How could they do something as cruel as this even to an enemy? An Autobot, HIS bondmate. Never would he forget the cold, unfeeling demeanour of Shockwave nor how Starscream cared only for the safety of information. This had just become a matter beyond personal. The saboteur could not, would not deny the protectiveness he felt over Prowl.

They were going to be sorry, very, very dearly so. Jazz did not even realise he had worked himself into a state of uncontrolled rage, until he suddenly felt the warm, soothing waves of his bondmate calming down the storm.

/Whether you take your revenge or not we'll have to see/, the tactician told him through their spark-connection. /But in order to even stand a chance you first have to heal, Jazz./

Sighing he allowed his beloved to soothe his nerves and his body, which had tensed up, to relax against his mate's chassis. But with the absence of fury other feelings arrived. Guilt. Heavy guilt over the hurt he knew his bondmate must have suffered through, washed over him like a disease, leaving him depressed and helpless.

"Ah did not know what happened t' ya", he croaked out miserably. "Ah coulda gone lookin' for ya, Ah coulda helped ya out of it. Instead Ah flew aroun' with th' others, explorin' an' joking. Ah shoulda checked th' bond instead. Ah shoulda taken down that buffer t' see if anythin' was wrong. Ah might have noticed somethin' was off. Maybe Ah could've helped ya."

"You were hardly joking or playing around when you travelled through space, Jazz", Prowl objected forcefully, even though the saboteur knew that for his mate his new voice would forever sound strange and awkward. "You were focused on the mission, as I can clearly see by the glimpses through our bond. And that you did not take down your buffer to check was the only right and logical choice. You could not allow yourself to get distracted. Not on this mission, where everything depended on your speed and quick mind. It was not your fault, Jazz. Never your fault."

He stroked down over the smaller mech's faceplates in a soothing gesture. Jazz wanted to protest, to voice that it was indeed partly his fault. But he realised that it was just as much not his fault as it had not been Prowl's. The only culprits here were the Decepticons. It was their decision, their action and no one else's.

Whining softly in hurt and distress the saboteur allowed his sparkmate to cover his body and open their spark chambers for another strengthening sparkmerge. They both needed some time to calm down. And even though it hurt him to the pit and back Jazz could not help his ops nature and reviewed the memories Prowl had shared with him to analyse the data for anything useful.

After a long moment of silence Jazz finally onlined his visor and looked into the deep red optics his bondmate was currently forced to bear.

"There's one thing Ah don't understand though", he voiced his confusion aloud again. The saboteur had decided that it was important to get his vocaliser used to speaking again and the results of his exercise were obvious since the croaking and static were nearly gone.

"Th' way Ah understand what Shockwave an' Starscream said, th' virus they injected ya wit' were suppos'd t' completely destroy yer personality an' only leave information 'bout our faction as well as corrupted data intact. But when mah near-death pulled ya out of it, ya certainly were all yerself. Not that Ah'm not thankful an' ev'rythin' but it's kinda weird how ya pulled that stunt, Sparkles."

Prowl hummed in thoughtful agreement, before voicing his answer.

"I wondered about that as well after I was able to calm down from the recent events in Mission City", the tactician acceded. "And I think I figured it out. Though as logical as everything presents to me, I cannot put any proof behind it. Therefore it will simply stay a theory."

The warning was unnecessary since Jazz knew with or without proof, if Prowl's explanations made sense to him, then there was a chance of 99 percent that it was the right one.

"Spill it, mech!" he demanded.

"I remember just before I went offline back in Shockwave's lab that all my thoughts were centred on the desperate wish to save my personality and secrets. I must have unconsciously initiated the writing of a new program that took everything that was important to me and sent it down the bond where it could settle in a safe corner, undetected by the Decepticons or even yourself. It would be the only logical answer I can conclude with what happened.

Even to scientists sparkbonds are highly unexplored and mostly a mystery. We cannot play around with a bond and I am sure even Shockwave never gained much if he tried to pick around the function of a sparkbond. Therefore it made sense if neither he nor Starscream were unable to detect that, instead of being deleted, my personality files were redirected deep inside the bond for safekeeping."

"An' how did they get free again after ya tried it so many times mostly without positive results?" Jazz added curiously. Prowl was silent for a moment, his thoughts on the matter hesitant. Finally he came up with an answer.

"I suspect it was because our sparkbond was in danger of getting cut, when you went in to fight Megatron", he explained slowly, his body all but shuddering as he remembered how the big Decepticon leader had held the helpless body of his bondmate, who even during that time had acted bravely and still attacked the Decepticon with all he had. "The bond must have realised the danger for the personality files and my other memories if they stayed in a bond that was about to get severed. Therefore it simply sent the files back to where they belonged, while the virus itself got surprised by an attack from something it had registered as "destroyed"."

Jazz winced when he was reminded of his unpleasant fight with the Decepticon leader. It was not one of his best moments and he still hurt from the consequences of that action.

"Prowler", he whispered. "Ah knew that Ah reached th' end of mah lucky streak th' moment Megatron appeared on mah sensors. He was too near th' other's. Too near th' Allspark an' too near t' our only fully qualified medic. Our last mission, our whole fights lately had been about nothin' but keepin' th' Allspark away from Megatron an' Ah felt that if Ah abandoned that thought just t' protect our lives, Ah would've broken everythin' we've sworn t' do. Ah knew ya would've preferred t' join th' Well of Allsparks wit' meh than allow for hope t' be destroyed."

He sighed and looked his bondmate into his optics while Prowl could feel the love, the regret and the guilt sweeping down the link.

"But no matter what Ah told mahself an' how very much Ah KNEW it was what ya thought, Ah still could not help feelin' guilty for havin' t' end it there without a warnin'."

"But it did not end." Prowl pointed out softly and for a moment both fell silent. Then determination flared through their sparks.

"Let's stop this", the tactical officer decided. "After being allowed to see everything from your point of view my logic centre points out the conclusion that everything we did and decided for was what we thought would serve our cause best."

He stroked over Jazz's helm with one hand as he had done so often in the past orns, with or without his mate being conscious. Longing, happiness and devotion was shared within their sparks and Jazz could not help offlining his optics to revel in what Prowl offered him of his emotions.

/But we also have to acknowledge that things have changed, Jazz/, Prowl continued even softer than before with his real voice sounding over the bond. /I had to watch you nearly die. I just about lost you. And with the measures I had to take to save your life, our buffers fell and our bond is fully open now.

I know with my entire spark that I will no longer be able to put the sake of the Autobot cause over yours again, not in an overly drastic situation like the one we just had. However, I still believe in what we fight for and I also think that we could still be useful with our skills, even though Cybertron and the Allspark are lost./

Jazz eyes snapped online when he heard the last sentence and they glowed strongly in shock as he starred at his bondmate.

"What do ya mean 'Cybertron an' th' Allspark are lost'?" he croaked out, not quite willing to believe what he feared to hear next. Prowl's face, softened as much as it was possible with the Decepticon visage he was burdened with.

"When I shared my memories, I was mostly concentrating on my own fate and yours. So, what I forgot to show you is that just before I closed the door of our first hiding place, I saw that human boy that I can only remember under the pseudonym of 'Ladiesman217'..."

"Sam", Jazz instantly interrupted with a small smile, guessing quite well that Prowl was more disturbed by the illogicality of someone calling himself Ladiesman217 than the fact that he did not know the boy's real name. "His name's Sam Witwicky."

* * *

><p>"Yes, Sam", Prowl continued, totally unfazed by the interruption, something he was well acquainted with coming from his bondmate. "I saw how the boy pushed the Allspark into the chest of Megatron, destroying both with the power overload they received. The Allspark is therefore destroyed, lost to us forever", the tactical officer added the last sentence quietly, carefully. Prowl was surprised when Jazz simply let out a small sigh of relief. Though he still looked sad about the news, it seemed it was not as bad as he had feared.<p>

"Ah knew there was a chance for th' Allspark t' get destroyed", Jazz admitted. "When Optimus found out th' coordinates, we knew that it would come t' a confrontation wit' th' Decepticons and mostly Megatron himself. Optimus ordered us, if he would not be able t' destroy Megatron, we were supposed t' shove th' Allspark into his sparkchamber. So, when ya mentioned th' Allspark destroyed, Ah feared for th' worst for Optimus. Th' Allspark gone is devastatin', but Optimus lost wit' it while Megatron still alive, would have been worse."

He paused for a moment to allow Prowl for the information to sink in before he added.

"Ah dunno how th' boy found out about that plan, but good on him if he was able t' shove th' Allspark into Megatron. He saved a Prime's life wit' that action. An' it killed Megatron, Ah hope?"

The mech above him sighed, while he continued stroking his still injured mate soothingly with one hand, his other supporting his body so it would not crush the smaller Autobot special ops agent under him.

"Yes and no, Jazz."

When the saboteur started to frown at that question, Prowl hastened to continue.

"You were right to assume that shoving the Allspark into Megatron's sparkcase killed him while the cube was destroyed and Optimus stayed alive. The Decepticons must have scattered after their loss and the first three orns I stayed offline because of the strain of the procedure to keep your spark strong."

"But ya didn't stay offline as long as Ah did", Jazz pointed out, now with a bit of his old slyness seeping into his tone. "Ah know ya, Prowler, it doesn't fit well wit' ya t' not know th' current situation of anythin'. Ya need t' know for ya tactical planning."

The tactical officer nodded, unsurprised. After all, his sparkmate was the one mech that knew him best, knew nearly all of his secrets just as it was the other way around.

"After I returned online and when I was sure, that you were finally stable enough for my concentration to wander, I took note of our situation and wondered what happened after the battle. With my Autobot data returned to this body, and with the knowledge Barricade earned I found out that I was able to hack into both Decepticon and Autobot comm frequencies and listen to their talk. At least as long as it was around the orbit of Earth and not further. I have to admit I was surprised to learn that neither Decepticons nor Autobots changed their codes lately, which is a big security risk."

* * *

><p>Jazz could not help but snicker, when he realised the meaning of Prowl's conclusion.<p>

"If Red Alert's ever able t' join them, he'll throw a fit, that's for sure", the special ops agent pointed out in amusement.

"Yes, he certainly would", Prowl agreed dryly before letting out a big guest of air through his intakes, a clear sign that he wished to continue his tale.

"Anyway, I was able to listen to snippets of communication from the Autobots. What I learned is that Optimus sent out a call to our comrades, declaring this Earth our new hope. They also created a new team consisting of Autbotos and the humans from the military that went with you to Mission City that day. The diversion is called NEST and they started hunting down the Decepticons that have scattered all over Earth. For the first 42 orns there were mostly only reports about the workings of NEST. I was not able to receive any Decepticon communication."

"Which should've been considered a good thing if not for th' fact that it changed, ain't that right, Prowler?" Jazz interjected darkly, already fearing where this was going. Prowl nodded and continued with his story.

"The first messages I received were strangely worrying, but nothing major. They went on about a 'Fallen' returning. Then 3.5 stellar-cycles after the fight in Mission City things went out of control. First Soundwave arrived. Then a small splinter of the Allspark, the LAST leftover of our precious cube, was stolen right under the humans' nose. And if that was not bad enough, I then was able to interpret the notice of Megatron being revived, certainly with the help of the last Allspark splinter."

"Oh no", Jazz groaned out, but he stilled when he felt within his spark, that Prowl had not even told the worst. And what could be worse than a dead enemy brought back alive?

"Sparkles? What else happened?" he whispered, already dreading the answer.

"Optimus was killed", the tactical officer answered quietly. He knew it was no use nor logical to deflect the inevitable.

"Those were the darkest joors I could remember for a long, long time", he added as a confession. "I was here, with you, learning those horrible news and I wondered if my attempt to save your life might have been in vain. That we would be found and terminated. Then the Fallen arrived on Earth and the boy, Sam, was wanted by Decepticons and humans alike."

"Ah can't imagine why", Jazz interrupted again, dryly, humourlessly. He knew as well as Prowl that Megatron was vindictive and Sam had been able to take the Decepticon leader's life.

"It ends not as badly as it started, Jazz", Prowl reassured his mate. "I was able to gather one last message snippet. The boy had somehow found an old artefact called the 'Matrix of Leadership' and I am not sure yet what this has to do with anything, but it seems Optimus was somehow brought back to life. He killed the Fallen, though as far as I know Megatron was able to get away. And Sam, by now, is no longer wanted. The last thing I heard is of his return from Egypt to this country."

A bright blue visor looked up into red, equally glowing optics and the special ops agent allowed air to escape through his vents in a sign of relief.

"At least tha' means, Prime 's alive an' that's good. That Megatron however is, too, doesn't sit well wit' meh", Jazz added, sadness flowing through their sparkbond. "This means th' war is far from over an' continues right where it left off, doesn't it?"

"Sadly it does just that", Prowl agreed. "However, we have been shown, after such a long time, that Megatron is not invincible. And the last splinter has been used; it's gone. So they never again have the chance to reawaken anyone. If we succeed just one more time, to cause Megatron's fall, he will not get up ever again, not with the Allspark lost."

"Which still remains a depressin' fact altogether", Jazz sighed. "We lost th' Allspark, our hope for a future on Cybertron forever. An' did ya notice how long it took t' kill Megatron th' first time? Wha' makes ya believe tha' it will not take us just as much time of fightin' an' losing precious life before we succeed a second time."

"But we found new precious allies here on this planet", the tactician objected. They might be a young species still but as far as I can tell Optimus believes in them."

"He does", Jazz confirmed quietly. "Ah remember tha' we were reluctant t' not attack th' humans when they took Bumblebee, but Optimus said that he'd seen kindness an' courage. An' Ah admit that it's true. Ah watched how th' boy pushed away from his guards t' help Bumblebee, even though they just barely met."

* * *

><p>"The humans are young, but they are full of surprises", Prowl added thoughtfully. "Megatron will not be able to predict their moves as well as he had with us. That gives us a precious advantage. If we play it right, we might win this war sooner rather than later. If nothing else his disgust of the organic race will cause him to underestimate their fighting strength."<p>

He looked down at Jazz, their connected sparks flaring brightly when the tactician feed their bond with his hope and determination.

"Believe in us one last time, Jazz. We have come this far, we cannot give up just yet. Besides, before we even consider joining the war again, we need to get you stable enough that we can contact our comrades without any risk to our safety. It will take a lot of persuasion for them to believe that I am not really a Decepticon."

He hung his head in inner pain when he added in a whisper.

"Especially after all that Barricade has done to them."

Jazz immediately grabbed his bonded's hand and hold them in a harsh grip, forcing Prowl to look into the other's optics.

"They better believe mah words as th' truth it is or they'll be really sorry, Ah promise. Don't worry, Sparkles, we get that explainin' over an' done with."

Prowl nodded, feeling the determination and comfort his sparkmate sent him over their bond. Grateful for Jazz's action and words, he pressed their foreheads together for another intimate touch.

"You are right. We have to hope everything will turn out fine. And when they believe us Ratchet has to take a look at both of us. I am no medic, I could only do so much to keep you stable. Also, when you are well again I really would like to know if Ratchet would be able to take care of this awful Decepticon look I am forced to wear. The hands, the voice, they all remind me too much of the puppet I have been forced to become."

He stared at his hands, on the outside looking still calm to Jazz but both could feel on the inside the emotions of self-hate and disgust building up into a storm. The special ops agent acted immediately and sent a strong wave of reassurance and comfort back into Prowl's spark.

"This has never been yer doin' nor yer fault, Sparkles", he reassured in a strong voice. "An ops agent would not have been able t' withstand what ya did an' yer not even an ops agent in first place. Ya did so well, so much better than anyone would ever have done in yer position. So be proud an' never ashamed for yer successful break of th' shackles ya were forced t' wear!"

"But the truth is, it was only possible because of the bond", Prowl shook his head. "Without it, I would have been lost forever, no matter how strong or weak I am."

"That's only half true, love", Jazz pointed out thoughtfully. "It's true, that th' bond saved yer personality programming, but Ah'm also sure that th' bond had nothin' t' do with yer break from th' virus. That was yerself, yer stubborn processor taking back control."

Prowl wanted to interrupt but Jazz cut him off before he had a chance to utter a single word.

"No, Sparkles, let meh finish. Remember when ya showed meh how for a single moment ya were able t' interrupt th' fight between Barricade and Bumblebee? That'd nothing t' do wit' our bond. Yer mighta been thinkin' o'meh, but th' bond did nothin'. It was yer determination and stubbornness that after so many tries an' never really givin' up, succeeded in taking control, however short that moment was."

The Autobot tactician sighed but in the end gave up because he could not deny that Jazz was right. It was, after all, a logical conclusion, and Prowl had never been one to argue logic, not when he more or less lived for it. Jazz was certainly satisfied with his bonded's agreement.

"Good mech", he praised. "An' now that we have taken care of tha', do you think ya could get us somethin' like energon? Ah feel rather low on energy an' Ah know for a fact that ya do, too. Mah spark is strong enough, Ah'll be able t' survive without yer support for a few joors."

Checking his own energy level, Prowl had to agree that it was time to fuel up.

"There is a small service station just at the edge of town", the tactician told his bonded while disconnecting their merged sparks from each other. The first impression of losing one part of each other was quickly followed by the thought how thankful they would be when merging sparks would no longer be a duty to strengthen and save life and instead become once more the source for pleasure and comfort it was supposed to be.

"It's the middle of night, in the middle of the week", Prowl continued when the disconnection was completed and their spark cases had both been closed. "The streets should be empty and free of trouble. If nothing unforeseen comes up I should be back to you in less than half a joor."

Jazz nodded and with a small smile he stroke over his bondmate's faceplate before he allowed him to get off the self-made berth Prowl had constructed shortly after moving into their new temporary home.

"Don't worry, Sparkles, Ah won't run anywhere while yer gone", the saboteur joked lightly. "Just make sure ya bring lots o' fuel, because Ah'm quite hungry."

Prowl could not help but return the smile, Jazz sent him.

"I know, love. Try to recharge a bit while I am gone. I know you tend to get bored, hungry and suspended to the berth as you are. I will wake you when I return with the fuel."

* * *

><p>Jazz nodded and tiredly lay down again. He moved his head to the direction of the barn's door though to watch his bondmate step into the night. His sensitive hearing detected the sound of a transformation and then the Saleen mustang that was Barricade's alt-mode, moved onto the silent road. He listened until the noise of Prowl's powerful engine was lost in the distance. Only then did Jazz offline his optics and allowed his tired body to initiate recharge. As it stood, he still had a long road of recovery ahead.<p>

tbc...


	6. Chapter 5

Again, thanks a lot to everyone who took the time to write a review. It is great to know that you like the story so far. And here we are with part 5, enjoy!

Part: 5/?  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:  
>Vorn - 83 years<br>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And **not to forget**, much thanks to **Taralynden** for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>Jazz jolted out of recharge with a start and his first thought was that Prowl was back from his mission to get them some fuel. However he quickly realised that the barn was empty and silent apart from the slightly louder-than-normal noise of his own engine that interrupted the peace and quiet. A quick look out of the tiny barn window nearly under the roof told the saboteur that about two-thirds of a joor must have passed, if his reading of the stars had been correct.<p>

Jazz had only the sky as reference to time because his own chronometer had been damaged after his unfortunate clash with the Decepticon leader. Acknowledging his surroundings and the fact that he was still alone, his optics dimmed shortly, a sure sign of his confusion. Prowl had stated that he would be back in around half a joor, and past experience told him that his calculations were nearly never wrong. They certainly were not supposed to be wrong now. Still, more time than expected had passed and the special ops agent could not help the nagging worry he felt.

He had come out of recharge too suddenly and too soon if his assessment of his wounds were correct. And such a starting rousing only happened if something was wrong. He had not ended up in ops for being pretty or smart: his instincts were one of the most important talents he possessed and he was not about to brush them aside right now.

Suddenly he felt a nudge from the bond, and then he knew what was wrong: Prowl had tried to contact him through their bond. It was the only method of communication they had since his radio was just as slagged as his chronometer and as most other parts of his inside workings were.

/Prowler?/ he tried to send carefully through their bond, testing. He was not sure how far away from each other they were and after all those many vorns blocking most parts of their spark connection from the very beginning he doubted that it was strong enough to allow long range communication now. He should not have worried though, because the answer followed immediately.

/Jazz!/

Relief flooded through their sparks, quickly followed by worry and to Jazz's great surprise the beginning of panic.

/Jazz, I encountered unexpected complications. I am not sure I can return to the barn any time soon. I cannot risk sending them to your place when you are barely out of danger of deactivation./

Sensing the dire situation the saboteur quickly fell into his usual role as third in command and Autobot soldier, his demeanour becoming serious and businesslike.

/Ignorin' mah unfit state of fightin', what's th' situation wit' ya, Prowl?/

Jazz was also ready to defend his case that he should at least know what was going on and knowing Prowl and the protectiveness he sometimes showed, he was ready for an argument. But to his surprise all resistance he received was a long sigh. It worried him all the more, because if the tactician was already willing to answer his questions, then he must be in a really tight situation that did not allow much distraction.

/I am currently chased by Starscream and his trinemates Skywarp and Thundercracker from above as well as Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker on the ground/, Prowl reported to his mate with a resigned voice.

/WHAT?/

Jazz shot up into a sitting position so quickly he did not even realise the pain until his shout of surprise had stopped echoing from the walls. Wincing and honestly regretting his uncontrolled movement he tried to calm down his own arising panic when the seriousness of the situation sank in. With a flaring spark, he listened to the rest of his bondmates report.

/I was successful in accessing the fuel needed when I caught a report on both open Decepticon and NEST communication channels that I watch. Since the beacon was installed without my consent when I was offline, I have no knowledge how to deactivate my Decepticon signal. Given that I have been an experiment for the Decepticons, my movements were supposed to be watched. My only success so far has been to dampen the signal. Unfortunately it seems now both Decepticons and NEST have caught it anyway. I was just in time to receive reports of their near arrival here in Mission City./

/But if ya received their messages before their arrival, ya shoulda been able t' hide in th' city/, Jazz mused, shocked by what he had been told. /Th' dampenin' of yer beacon would at least not allow them t' pinpoint exactly there ya are./

/That's right and I immediately drove deep into the city to go underground./

* * *

><p>No longer able to concentrate on formulating sentences, Prowl sent his memories through their bond. In rising horror Jazz watched how his mate had tried to find cover inside a parking building only to be spotted by one of the three Seekers circling in the sky. Starscream of course recognised the form of Barricade immediately and during Prowl's desperate attempt to lose the seekers within the city he received an Autobot report of Sunstreaker spotting the Seekers.<p>

He of course got orders to follow the Seekers with his two comrades and find out the identity of the unknown Decepticon. No calculations in the world could have told Prowl from which direction the Autobots would arrive. Therefore his battle computer advised his best chances for survival were to concentrate on getting out of the Seekers' sight. Unfortunately, that effort ended rather disastrously when he nearly crashed into Bumblebee at a sharp turn.

The young Autobot of course also recognised Barricade. Add to that the two twins who were always eager for a bit of Decepticon pounding as well as the Seekers immediately wanting to get rid of the "Autobot scum" and the fight between both factions was unavoidable.

Prowl, fearing for the life of humans and his fellow comrades, saw no other choice than to get out of the city and away from human populated areas altogether. The Autobots and Decepticons, noticing the running Ford Mustang Saleen, immediately forgot about fighting each other for the moment and continued their chase. Unfortunately for Prowl, the first street out of town had been the very street that led to the deserted farm, where he and Jazz were staying at. Determined to simply drive by instead of returning to his still seriously injured mate Prowl sent another inquiry through their bond when he felt Jazz had ended reviewing his memories.

/Are you able to shut down your beacon?/

* * *

><p>Though he was not agreeing with his bondmate's choice of action, Jazz knew it was not the time to discuss matters right now. He quickly checked his programs and could not help the feeling of satisfaction and relief when he realised that his beacon was working and beyond his control to shut down. Honestly, they had been lucky that the signal it emitted was so weak, the Decepticons had not been able to locate it and would only do so if they were near the farm he and Prowl resided at.<p>

/It's shot just like most o'mah other programs/, he sent back, not even apologetic about his satisfaction for the broken program. /Ah know ya disagree an' fear for mah safety, but ya got no choice but return here. Wit' meh not bein' able t' shut down mah beacon, at least one faction might notice it an' wit' our current bad luck it'll be the Cons./

/Jazz, this is no joking matter!/ the tactician replied distressed.

/Ah know, love, Ah know/, the saboteur tried to sooth. /An' Ah'm takin' this seriously, ya know Ah am. But ya gotta admit this is funny. Honestly, a whole twenty-seventh part of a vorn of peace an' quiet an' now, when ya just want t' refuel jus' like ya have a hundred times before, the Cons an' Bots find a signal of yer beacon at th' same time? If that ain't reason t'laugh then nothin' is./

Prowl sent a small hint of exasperation through the bond, but at least, the special ops agent noted, he was not about to panic anymore.

/Come back t' meh, Prowl! Wit' Autobots bein' part of th' chase, we've at least a chance t' get out of this alive. An' th' best, we might be able t' receive a portion of Ratch's "tender" care again. How does that sound?/

There was silence for a moment and even the emotions through their bond seemed to have stilled. What Jazz did not expect to hear next was colourful cursing and a surge of renewed panic.

/Optimus will be joining the Autobots with the human members of the NEST-team/, Prowl reported tightly. /And so will Megatron for the Decepticons./

/Well, slag!/ was all Jazz could come up with before he finally found his wits again. /Return t' th' barn, Prowler! If Optimus can't get this under control, then no-one can./

/Acknowledged!/ Prowl agreed shortly and through their bond Jazz could feel his bondmate's quick return to their temporary resting place, even if the noise of jets and screaming car wheels had not been indication enough.

* * *

><p>Prowl came to a sudden halt close to the entrance doors of the barn and transformed. He did not dare to step too close in fear that it could put his injured mate too much in the spotlight, but at the same time he stayed close enough to ensure he would be able to protect the entrance from being entered without his consent.<p>

He instructed the saboteur to stay inside and hidden, an order Jazz would normally have happily ignored. However his body was still weak, he could barely sit up without pain. Also, the Autobot third in command was not stupid, he knew that it would be better to wait for now and save his strength for when he needed it.

The seekers were the first ones to arrive, their ability to fly giving them an advantage over the enemy, though the Autobots were not far behind. The Decepticons had just taken in the area and noticed the surprising fact of another Autobot signature besides the three of their followers being nearby.

But the moment Starscream started to point the new signal out to his trinemates, the arriving Autobots interrupted him. They transformed just as the Seekers had done and while Bumblebee pointed his guns on the transformed Saleen, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were looking at the Seekers with nasty grins on their faces, or in Sunstreaker's case a dark scowl, while their weapons hummed threateningly.

What surprised both Prowl and the Seekers though was that just before Bumblebee transformed first, his driver's door opened and a small human stepped out. A human that both Starscream and Prowl knew very well. Sam Witwicky wisely stayed right behind his yellow guardian, mostly ignored by friends and enemies alike.

Prowl wanted to scream how they could be so stupid to bring a civil human right into a battle place and even Jazz, who witnessed everything over the bond, was surprised for the presence of the young man in their midst. However the special ops officer tried immediately to reassure his mate.

/Trust Bumblebee, Prowler. He's not stupid an' as far as Ah noticed he's already acted very protective of th' human when they just met. He certainly wouldn't put Sam in any kind of danger if not for a good reason. Now pay attention t' th' Decepticons! Ah don't expect Bee an' even th' twins will attack ya as long as ya don't look at them th' wrong way./

/Which does not really help because one ALWAYS looks the wrong way in Sunstreaker's opinion/, Prowl objected dryly. But overall the tactician officer had to silently agree with Jazz and turned his attention back on the Seekers, who were answering the open hostility of the twins with sneers on their own. At least the Seekers had a history with the twins, bigger than anything else, so thankfully they would always be the twins' first priority.

Of course, since he could not be careful enough in his current situation, Prowl was level-headed enough to keep a small portion of his awareness on the Autobot scout, who was still pointing his weapons at what he must be thinking to be a Decepticon. Yet, after he did not even more than acknowledge Bumblebee and glance at Sam with something like horror, the Camero also concentrated most of his attention on the threatening Seekers.

For a long moment enemies just stood there without noticing much else. Naturally it was Bumblebee, as trained ops and scout to notice the signal of a fellow comrade first from the Autobots. His eyes glowed a bit brighter in surprise and through his own communication connection to both Autobots and Decepticons Prowl was able to listen to the yellow scout and Starscream reporting to their respective leaders of their findings.

After their reports were finished and both leaders announced their imminent arrival, Starscream was the first to address what he thought to be his fellow comrade.

"So, you were able to track down one of those Autobot scum, Barricade", the Seeker sneered down at the Saleen. "That is great work, but don't expect that one little 'bot will make up for disappearing in the middle of the fight and vanishing for nearly six stellar-cycles. Lord Megatron won't forgive deserting that easily."

/Ah bet Ah know who th' first 'Con was tha' put his tailpipe between his wings an' got out th' first chance he got after Megatron fell/, Jazz commented sarcastically over the bond. The mates were both concluding the same, even though they had not witnessed the finish of the fight in Mission City. But of course, Prowl stayed silent with his opinion. And he did not need to say anything, because the twins had plenty to retort after that opening.

"Ignoring the fact that deserting certainly must be your speciality, Starscream", Sideswipe sneered, "you don't really expect us to stand by and watch you take out one of our comrades, do you?"

"We could take you out first, if you prefer that", Skywrap suggested nastily his arms humming with the first sequences of a transforming weapon.

"How about the other way around?" Sunstreaker threatened, his eyes narrowing and his weapons targeting more obviously the seeker with the teleporting ability. Prowl watched the whole exchanged, his body tense, ready at any klick to protect the barn that kept his injured bondmate away from prying eyes.

He also spared a small glance at the human, who was still keeping cover behind Bumblebee. It was strange, but even though the talking had taken place in Cybertronian, the wide eyes of the boy made him look like he understood every word of it. Though with the way both factions stood and changed their positions with every further word said, it was kind of obvious that a fight was in the air.

However, it seemed Bumblebee had enough of the twins' actions and for the first time he allowed himself to speak.

"ENOUGH!" the voice of an unknown man shouted over the radio, that the young 'bot used for communication, before he gritted out in perfect English with his own, still damaged voice. "We have orders. No fight, just protect!"

The twins immediately fell silent in surprise and even Prowl and Jazz were astonished.

/Since when'd Bee become so authoritarian?/ Jazz asked over the bond. /Th' last time Ah spoke t' th' youngling he was still not sure he was th' right 'bot for th' job of tracin' th' Allspark./

/You forget the courage he showed time and time again when he protected his friends and the boy here on Earth/, Prowl reminded his bondmate. /And you were considering naming him head of ops if anything should ever happen to you and Mirage. I do expect you made that decision for a reason and not just by gambling on a random successor./

/Right Ah give ya that. But still, he would be th' last one t' raise his voice, not t' mention givin' orders t' other 'bots./

/Given the faces of the twins I think they would like to agree with you, Jazz/, Prowl commented casually but could not help the small sliver of amusement seeping through the bond despite the seriousness of the situation. It was not often one got to witness the infamous twins speechless. His answer was Jazz's own amusement as they returned to watch the events unfolding.

* * *

><p>"Yeah, listen to the Bumblebot", Skywarp snickered at the twins, after having witnessed their speechlessness. He was taking a careful step back though when deeply blue glowing optics focused on him. He and Thundercracker had not rejoined the Decepticon forces long ago, but some of their comrades told them that the yellow Autobot had become a lot more deadly since their last fight with him. Besides, most Decepticons were in unspoken and grudgingly awe of the young special ops agent after he stood up to Megatron all those vorns ago in Tyger Pax, and got out of it alive.<p>

So now, unlike in the past, the seeker was not quite so aloof and uncaring anymore to have those deep, blue eyes glued on his person.

* * *

><p>Bumblebee only threw a short, sharp look at the teleporter with the purple stripes before his gaze returned to Starscream.<p>

"Take your... comrade... leave us our... friend. And... scatter off!" he commanded through various bits taken from the radio, this kind of communication the better option since his voice was still barely able to be heard.

Starscream, however, smirked right back into the Autobot's faceplate, his posture giving off the usual arrogance he was known for when feeling superior.

"And abandon the opportunity of getting rid of at least one more Autobot idiot?" the second in command asked, humoured. "Please, we are four against three and since your little comrade inside there", he let his hand casually sweep over the direction of the barn, "has not shown a bit of his armour yet, I take it that he is no match for a fight anyway."

The twins bristled at the words, but the attentive Bumblebee noticed to his great surprise that Barricade seemed to grit his denta at the Decepticon's last comment as well. This was not exactly a reaction the Autobot scout had expected from a Decepticon. Also, the Saleen seemed to be tense for a fight. That was not unexpected but his attention, instead of being paid to the Autobots, was nearly fully on the three Seekers, as if he was expecting more danger from them than anyone else.

Before he was able to continue his observation however, the air suddenly filled with the scream and humming of an incoming flier. Bumblebee exchanged a quick look with the twins and their sparks sank. None of their current comrades here on Earth were fliers and with the available Seeker all present, it could only mean one thing.

* * *

><p>Megatron!/ Prowl informed his bondmate calmly, though he could not deny the shock and dread he felt on Jazz's behalf as he watched the Cybertronian aircraft arrive and transform in midair.

tbc...


	7. Chapter 6

Thank you everyone who again took the time to leave a bit of feedback. You thoughts and comments are very much appreciated. And here we go with chapter 6, please enjoy.

Part: 6/12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realizes the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:

Vorn - 83 years  
>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months<br>Orn - 13 days  
>Joor - 8 hours<br>Breem - 6 minutes  
>Astrosecond - 56ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And **not to forget**, much thanks to **Taralynden** for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>Megatron, leader of the Decepticons and former Lord High Protector of Cybertron, landed beside his second in command with a powerful jump from the air that caused the ground to shake. For more than an astrosecond there was silence while he swept his glowing red optics over the place to take in the current situation. He was aware of his three followers, the seeker trine lead by his own second in command. Then he saw the infamous and most disliked Autobot twins Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.<p>

And there was the Autobot scout and ops agent Bumblebee, one of the few mechs that had the unfortunate dishonor of rising in the Decepticon leader's list of "nuisances to be eliminated" to a position right under Optimus Prime's and that human boy's name. So, was it not a great coincidence that he could spot said boy just behind his guardian, human face white and eyes wide in unhidden terror?

The last visible being Megatron took in was the black and white colored Decepticon that seemed to stand guard at the door of an old human barn. He must be who his subordinates had called Barricade. A Decepticon warrior with a great sense of tactics. Dangerous, deathly and absolutely loyal to his cause, as far as he knew. Though till now he was only able to judge that from what his followers told him, since Barricade had joined the Decepticons only after he started his journey to find the Allspark.

The leader of the Decepticon had to admit that he was intrigued by what he heard of this strange Decepticon. He was used to swaying mechs and femmes through speeches, threats and actions. But as far as he knew not one of his subordinates had joined the Decepticons out of faith, without seeing or hearing any proof from him. Barricade was certainly the only Decepticon to have joined the ranks after his disappearance. That made the black and white warrior very interesting from the very moment Megatron had been told of his name the first time. And it seemed as if his chance finally came to resolve the questions he collected of the mysterious Saleen transformer.

But before he could gather his answers, the former Lord High Protector had some Autobots to take care of. He could feel one final Autobot signal coming from inside the barn. And while he decided the cowardly hiding enemy was not worth a second glance, every dead Autobot was a good Autobot and therefore they all needed to be taken care of.

"Starscream", he finally acknowledged his second in command before his optics fixed on the group of enemies again, especially the yellow scout and his pathetic human charge. "I see you found us some Autobots to get rid of."

"That and a deserter to take care of, Lord Megatron", Starscream purred, bowing deeply in front of his leader.

"Pathetic groveller", Sideswipe sneered at the second in command, while his twin brother smirked. Starscream snarled in the direction of the twins, but he did not dare to take any action. Painful experiences taught him that it was not the best of ideas to take action in Megatron's presence without his permission.

"My lord, can we take care of the Autobot scum now?" Skywarp tentatively voiced his question, not caring the last that his trine leader had been insulted but itching for a fight. Megatron however, held out a hand to stop the seeker, his optics turning to face Barricade, who had not moved an inch since his arrival from his position in front of the barn door.

"Patience, Skywarp", he told the purple striped jet. "You will fight soon enough. But first I want to see how my infamous warrior holds himself up in battle. Barricade, I heard a lot about you since my Decepticons rejoined with me here on Earth. Some of the tales are promising, but other stories", he threw a quick look in Starscream's direction, "are rather ugly. I am sure you are aware that I judge my followers strictly, and deserting is a rather nasty crime for one of mine. You are lucky though. I cannot deny that I am curious about you, therefore you can prove yourself by showing me your skills as a warrior. Fight and get rid of at least one Autobot, I don't care which one. Just remember, that you cannot kill the human that is pathetically hiding behind that yellow nuisance. That human, is MINE!"

The silence that followed that statement was only disturbed by the whisper of the mentioned human.

"Great!" muttered Sam without real humor, his face having lost the look of terror he felt and determination took its place instead. "Bring it on, ugly!"

"Sam!" Bumblebee warbled, horrified, but his charge simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not exactly his favorite since what happened in Mission City and he would try to kill me anyway, wouldn't he? So why pretend otherwise?"

"Indeed", the Decepticon leader agreed darkly. "But before I take care of you - Barricade, attack the Autobots!"

The Saleen tensed even more if that was ever possible, his doorwings pointing straight into the sky. He threw a calm look over the three Autobots who immediately got ready for the expected fight. Then he looked back at the Decepticons surrounding Megatron and his optics seemed to harden.

"No!"

* * *

><p>Shocked silence followed that statement. The only being not taken by surprise was still hidden behind the walls of the barn but that did not mean Jazz tried to hide his snickers of humor after the bomb his bondmate just dropped onto all those present.<p>

/Way t' go, Prowler!' the head of ops cheered over their bond. But Prowl was not able to share his mate's amusement. He was very aware that his refusal to follow an order from Megatron could mean an immediate attack - and possible death.

Jazz knew the consequences quite well and after sobering, he sent soothing waves right into the tactician's spark.

/No matter what happens now an' what fate we meet, we'll face this t'gether, Sparkles. We'll be t'gether, in life an' in th' Well of Allsparks. So, do what ya wanna do. Ya have mah support in ever'thing ya do. An' we'll never be separated again, promise./

* * *

><p>I know, Jazz/, Prowl choked out, his voice even inside their bond not enough to transmit what he felt. Instead he sent all his love, his trust, his faith and his determination through to his bondmate. He had not fought for countless stellar-cycles to save Jazz's life just to lose it right now through Megatron's hands. He also refused to fight for a klick longer against his comrades, now that he was himself again, finally free.

Therefore he moved, his stance changing to preparedness for an attack from the still stunned Decepticons. Megatron was the first to finally recover and his optics seemed to glow stronger as he looked at the black and white Saleen, the threat seeping of the big frame in waves.

But it was not the voice of the Decepticon leader, who could be heard after Barricade's refusal to fight. Instead it was the triumphant squeal of a human that broke the silence of the moment, again.

"Optimus!" Sam Witwicky screamed, the only one who had not paid his whole attention to the Saleen, pointing excitedly to the lone street that led by the farm.

And true to his words, during the whole confrontation between the Decepticons and Autobots, NEST soldiers and some more Autobots had arrived by plane close to the farm, but not close enough that they had been spotted by any of the present mechs. However, now they had driven close enough and after realizing that comrades and enemies alike had noticed them, the approaching Autobots no longer deemed it necessary to suppress their beacons.

* * *

><p>The Decepticons could immediately link the signals of Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Ratchet, Acree, Jolt and Chromia to the approaching vehicles as well as two cars without any signal, meaning they were transportations of the human military.<p>

Before any further thought could be spared for a fight, Optimus and his group already arrived and the Autobots quickly transformed, ready for action.

"Megatron!" Optimus raised his voice to the other leader, while the human soldiers sprang from their cars, took cover and leveled their weapons against the Decepticons.

"Prime!" the former Lord High Protector spat out, displeasure about the turn of events obvious on his face. The upcoming spat between brothers was interrupted however, when the leader of the human soldiers suddenly spotted Sam beside Bee and let out a shout of anger.

"Sam Witwicky!" Major Lennox exclaimed horrified. "What the hell are you doing here? Bumblebee, are you crazy to bring along your human charge for this mission? He's a civilian, not to mention wanted by the Decepticons!"

The Autobot scout had the grace to look a bit sheepish, however it was Sam, looking equally sheepish, who answered Will Lennox's question.

"I asked to come along", the boy explained, unpleasantly aware that now every single optic and eye had moved in his direction. "We were in the middle of nowhere on our way to a concert when Blaster's call came in telling us about the spotted Decepticon signal. We realized we were nearest to the coordinates, but Bee would not throw me out in a place with nowhere to hide and chances high that a Decepticon might accidently pass by and attack me. I also realized that this mission was important for information gathering, so I persuaded Bee", at this the Autobot let something out that was akin to a snort, "to take me with him while we followed the signal. By the time we finally arrived at a town where I could have gotten out and hide, we were already in the middle of persuading the seekers and could not risk wasting time. Therefore", concluded Sam and hold out his hands wide, "here I am."

"And right under my claws", Megatron purred dangerously, as he had listened just like everyone else. "Such a stupid boy."

The young man shuddered and grimaced, then glanced in the Decepticon leader's direction.

"I doubt it would be a good thing to try and kill me today", Sam said as calmly as he was able to. "You're outnumbered now. Not to mention your buddy over there doesn't seem too eager to fight."

* * *

><p>Prowl was impressed. Honestly impressed that the boy had sacrificed his own safety to enable the Autobots a possibility for gathering information. And if he compared his current reaction with how the boy had acted three years ago when Barricade confronted him for the first time, then he could say that the human had certainly grown.<p>

However, the Autobot tactician could not help the unhappiness that right now said young man brought back all attention to him with one single sentence.

"Ah yes, Barricade", Megatron mused and considered the Saleen with a dark look. "I guess the boy speaks the truth for once. I don't like disobedience, soldier. Therefore this is your last chance. I don't care that the Autobots outnumber with their stupid human allies. Take them out, show me your worth and you might be forgiven!

To everyone's surprise Barricade met the Decepticon leader's stare straight on and returned it with a heated of his own.

"I was used long enough by your scum", the Saleen growled out. "As it is, I will definitely not fight any Autobot. If you want a fight, send your own mechs and see if they can best me."

/Uh-oh, Prowler/, Jazz warned, not used to his bondmate acting so aggressive.

/There is a 99.6 percent possibility that one of them will attack me anyway, Jazz/, Prowl told his bonded. /Megatron doesn't forgive treachery. Therefore it will be in our favor if I can at least control the moment of attack and take away their advantage of surprise./

/Damn it, Ah hate it when yer battle computer is right about somethin'/, Jazz grunted but ceased his hold on his bondmate's attention to allow him his concentration for the fight. /Jus' be extra careful if you have to face Megatron. He is not easy to fight and certainly full of dirty tricks./

/I know Jazz/, Prowl answered simply and returned his attention back to the upcoming fight, where Megatron was busy glaring daggers at Starscream's trine it seemed.

"So, you thought that Barricade would be a wonderful Decepticon, worthy and loyal to my ranks?" he barked at the intimidated Thundercracker who was trying to partly shield his purple striped trinemate without being too obvious.

"I am sorry, Lord Megatron", the seeker with the blue stripes answered slowly. "But as long as we worked together with Barricade he had been nothing but loyal, just as we told you. He had been a perfect Decepticon until he left with Starscream's group to find you and the Allspark."

"Is that so?" the Decepticon leader interjected and furious glowing optics turned on the Air commander and second in command.

"Tell me, Starscream, how does it come that a loyal mech under your wing suddenly seems to turn into a traitor?"

To his great surprise, the seeker did not cower this time but regarded Barricade with thoughtful optics.

"What you indicate is untrue, Lord Megatron", he murmured. "However, I have to agree that his actions are certainly strange and far from what they are supposed to be."

Suddenly Starscream opened a hidden panel on his right side and grabbed a strange, rectangular device with an antenna and a small two-way-cable that he immediately connected with his own body. He held the item up and before anyone could say and do something the object turned out to be a scanner that threw a green, powerful beam all over the Saleen transformer.

Prowl and Jazz both got a bad feeling of foreboding.

Finishing the scan the Decepticon seeker's eyes glowed bright as he evaluated the data and disconnected the cable again from his body. Then satisfaction of the result caused his lipplates to turn into a nasty smile.

"I knew it!" he crooned, waving the strange device into the air. "The device shows the virus is dormant. I have no idea how that could have happened, but it certainly explains his current actions quite well."

If Prowl had been a human, his body would have run ice-cold.

/DORMANT?/ he screamed through the bond, panic quickly building. /It can't be true. Primus no, he can't say that it was never really gone, that it's still able to control me./

He shook his head in disbelief, his optics blinking slowly while Jazz tried to calm his mate down through the bond, all the while trying to keep his own rising panic in check.

* * *

><p>Everyone else however, seemed quite confused by the Seeker's observations. On the side of where the Autobots and NEST stood, only Ironhide, Chromia and the twins made an impatient motion to attack, but they were silently held back by Optimus who was more interested in observing for now and trying to keep damage at a minimum. The Seekers and Megatron though seemed to have forgotten about the enemy for the moment anyway in face of their current confusion. And of course the leader of the Decepticons had no qualms about voicing his displeasure.<p>

"What are you talking about, Starscream?"

"Oh, you remember the little project Shockwave worked on, shortly before you left to search for the Allspark, oh mighty leader?" Starscream carefully asked, failing however to leave out all resentment he felt about his leader's past choice to leave their dying planet behind. Megatron, ignoring the usual discontent he felt with the seeker, tried to be patient. Not sure which of the many projects Starscream was talking about, he indicated for the second in command to continue.

"After you left, we successfully caught a promising 'volunteer' for the first serious try and we were lucky. The experiment worked just fine and we gained a valuable comrade for our cause. Though I should add that while his abilities for the cause were useful, we experienced a serious lack in the case of information gathering. Honestly, I expected more from Shockwave's work. Still, the virus was largely a success."

He paused here for a moment, watching his leader and seeing that Megatron finally caught up about which experiment he was talking about.

"So, all the hard work and sacrifices finally paid off with the desired results", the former Lord High Protector concluded, satisfaction obvious in his voice. He ignored the silently listening Autobots who so far had not intervened after Optimus' order in hope of gathering information. Megatron was confident though, that the vague tale of his second in command could tell the Autobots nothing. And the humans were not even a concern, because the moment Starscream had mentioned Shockwave's project, the seeker returned to their original language which the annoying organic worms could not understand.

"So, who did you get as a volunteer?" he sneered into the direction of Barricade.

"High rank", Starscream answered smug and arrogant. "REALLY high rank."

"And it was all thanks to me", Skywarp hastened to add proudly, ignoring the dark look his trine mate sent his way.

"Good", the Decepticon leader smiled satisfied before he remembered something his second had said before and a frown appeared on his face. "But if you got such a high catch and the experiment went well, what did you mean when you said you experienced a serious lack in information?"

Starscream hesitated for a moment, carefully considering his words as not to aggravate his leader too much.

"We could not... reach any of his data. It seemed they accidently got deleted. Something I had emphasized Shockwave more than once he was supposed to make sure should NOT happen", he hastened to add. "And there was also the fact that Barricade seemed to have small dropouts. Nothing serious and Shockwave assured he was capable for duty, which he was. But he could also not explain it and that is the reason Barricade got assigned as a team with Frenzy. We were able to work around the problem for the time being by Frenzy hacking and re-establishing his memory banks every time he suffered those small dropouts. And Shockwave also gave me this tool that can measure the activity of the virus throughrough. I have to say, I expected a small defect report, but nothing as serious as finding the whole virus dormant."

He paused again, his narrowing optics falling on the tense and defiant form of the Saleen transformer.

"At least this certainly explains his latest actions and refusal to listen to you", the Seeker finally concluded before he sent a rather nasty smirk into the other's direction, purring. "Good thing Shockwave used his circuits for once and prepared for such an impossible case. One little command from this beautiful device and you'll be feeling all better again, Barricade, I promise. And then you can go and slag the Autobots and the stupid human insects."

tbc...


	8. Chapter 7

Welcome to the next week. ^^ First of all, thank you very much everyone who took some time to write feedback. That is absolutely apreciated and loved. And of course, I hope everyone who is still reading this, will enjoy the next chapter. Well, here we go!

Part: 7/12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:  
>Vorn - 83 years<br>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>Snarls and growls were the answer from where the Autobots stood and the hum of charging weapons could be heard from Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Chromia and some of the human soldiers. While nobody dared to fire without Optimus' order, they were determined to show the Decepticons that they damned sure would the moment they were allowed to. No one, not even Optimus, had understood what exactly the Decepticons were talking about, and the Prime did not see any sense in triggering the first attack for what could turn out to be a nasty fight as long as the enemies were obviously absorbed by a struggle between themselves.<p>

But of course, his comrades would always recognise a threat thrown in their faceplates and the hotheaded amongst them felt inclined to react. However, just like Bumblebee, Optimus could not help but notice the strange reaction Starscream's last words seemed to have on the Decepticon Barricade. Optics glowing brightly, he nearly threw himself against the wall behind his back. There was obvious panic and fear in that mech's bearing. Adding that to Barricade's former refusal to fight them, the leader of the Autobots got the urgent and unpleasant feeling that he was missing something important here, something he should figure out quickly or the results would be devastating to someone who did not deserve it.

Confused and secretly even a small bit frustrated, the Prime's senses suddenly caught the quiet noise from inside the barn. It sounded like something heavy fell and then was dragged along the ground. Barricade tensed even more, his mouth opening wide in disbelief but it seemed he was incapable to move or speak out loud. All of a sudden there was a loud blast and the left door of the barn burst away from an explosive hit it took. A second blast followed and everyone was able to recognise the Cybertronian beam of a small arm canon that sailed through the air and struck a hole right through Starscream's left wing. The attack had been so sudden and unexpected that the seeker's attempt to duck came too late, saving him from having his spark blasted from its casing but not escaping unscathed.

With a howl of pain Shockwave's device fell to the ground as the Decepticon tried to clutch the energon seeping hole in his left wing. Cursing and growling he triggered the commands to stop the flow of energon in that area as well as offlining the affected pain receptors. Having taken care of the most urgent problems, he turned his face to glare hatefully at the one responsible for the injury. However angry faceplates soon changed into a stare of disbelief when he caught first sight of who shot him.

And he was not the only one. One by one the mecha and humans caught sight of the attacker, who moved out of the barn with a mixture of limping and dragging numb feet behind, generally looking as if only sheer willpower was holding him up. Even Megatron could not help but stare in utter denial at the mech he could now see coming out of the barn.

* * *

><p>Jazz's visor was glowing brightly with emotions as he glared at Starscream. His left arm still held high, weapon ready to fire again even though he obviously was barely able to hold his balance with the use of both arms much less one. His voice was filled with static, if from the amount of anger or because of the obvious injuries was unsure but finally he was able growl out one clear message at the shocked Decepticon Seeker.<p>

"Pit NO!"

He came to a painful stop beside the black and white Saleen, who finally woke out of his stupor and reacted on pure instinct. Quickly he put his arms around the saboteur's upper body to steady the already dangerously swaying mech.

"Jazz, stop it!" he whispered fearfully. "You are not even supposed to sit up without assistance, let alone WALK. You are still seriously injured."

As if his words were a trigger, Jazz's body lost all its forced up strength and he slumped against the hands and body of the mech now holding him up. There was a disbelieving whisper of "Jazz!" coming from the left where the Autobots and NEST soldiers stood, but no one knew who had uttered it, though the direction indicated one of the mechs who had been certain they had witnessed Jazz's death by the hands of Megatron.

The exclamation was followed by Ratchet's absent mutter of "At least now we know why we never found a body," before he turned his full senses back on the scene before him.

"Doesn't matter in th' light of what that cursed Seeker was about t' do", the exhausted ops agent in Barricade's arms just muttered into the other's shoulder joint, voice accentuated by static. "Ah coulda never allowed him t' go through wit' his threat. Had t' try an' stop him or we would've both been lost an'way."

/Don't think Ah didn't hear ya through th' bond, Prowler/, Jazz added silently through said connection. /Don't expect meh t' ignore yer feelin's of terror an' panic, of ya screamin' that Ah shouldn't allow this t' happen. Ah'd rather kill us than ever let 'im change ya into a Decepticon puppet ever again./

He stroked his bondmate's face, ignoring how much the visual appearance was still the faceplate of a stranger. Instead he sent his love, desperation and tenderness through the bond before speaking up again.

/Ah would never allow them t' use ya again, love. Ah'll honor yer wish. But don't deny meh th' right t' try an' save ya first, because Ah could also certainly feel yer bitterness an' resentment that fightin' so long t' save meh might've been for nothin'. An' Ah really can't help but admit that Ah can't deny mah own wish t' try an' believe in ya t' see th' Autobots an' us through th' war. Besides, if chances are we ain't survivin' this day, why rest mah broken body any longer?/

Prowl let out a loud sound that was a mixture of a sob and a laugh before he allowed himself to fall back into the connection of their sparks. And for the first time since they first knew each other, it was the tactician, who seemed to have lost all hope.

/Why fight the inevitable, Jazz? Even if you just succeeded to shoot the device out of Starscream's hands, it's still with the Decepticons. They don't have to use it now. They could take off and take care of me later. Use me like activating a sleeper./

But Jazz shook his head, a sad smile on his face.

/They won't do that, love. Th' cons are aware of our relationship, it was never a secret ever since Ah had t' spill th' beans. They may not know th' depth, th' secret of our bond, but they will certainly realise that Ah know what's going on. Allowin' ya t' be a sleeper ain't an option. They either try t' get ya back under control now or they simply want t' destroy ya, if they deem ya useless./

Jazz optics behind his visor glowed brighter before he added.

/An' turnin' ya back 's not an option Ah'll ever allow them!/

* * *

><p>Prowl stared deep into his bonded's concealed optics, his spark searching through thoughts and emotions until finally he was satisfied and nodded. He still was not able to rein his emotions back to their usual calm state, but he finally succeeded in taking control again, weakening his panic and masking his feelings for no one else but his bondmate to notice.<p>

* * *

><p>In the meantime, the first shock of seeing a mech thought dead had ebbed away and finally movement returned to the ranks of Autobots and Decepticons. Starscream, realising that his attacker was still seriously wounded, regained his confidence and with a hateful glow in his optics he stared down at the saboteur in the arms of the mech that was supposed to be on their side.<p>

"You!" the seeker sneered until he remembered everything said and done before the sudden attack and his optics glowed even brighter when the pieces clicked into place.

"Of course, it makes sense that you would try to save him", he grinned down at the tensing pair nastily. "But obviously in the end you could only delay the inevitable. He looked to the ground in order to locate and pick up the device, but for three astroseconds of horror he realized that the device was already gone. Unfortunately for Prowl and Jazz however, the seeker finally spotted Shockwave's back up tool in the hands of no one else but Megatrons'.

* * *

><p>The leader of the Decepticons was already studying the device with interested optics before sending a rather cruel smile over to the helpless couple. Long before his second in command had made the connection, he had already remembered the rumours about the relationship between the Autobot tactician and the infamous and rather troublesome Autobot head of special ops.<p>

"It seems", the Decepticon purred rather silkily and without compassion, "that your luck just ran out."

For a seriously injured and exhausted mech, Jazz reacted rather quickly. With a loud scream of "NO!" he turned and grabbed into Barricade's subspace, where he knew he was keeping an energon knife. But before he could aim it at anyone, Starscream charged his nullray, firing and hitting the hand holding the knife, while seconds later Skywarp turned up out of thin air just between the couple and kicked the injured 'bot so hard that it sent him flying right at the feet of the assembled Autobots who along with the NEST soldiers had been watching the whole unfolding scene with growing confusion.

* * *

><p>First their Jazz was interacting rather peacefully with a Decepticon. Then he was trying to protect him from something that had obviously to do with the strange device Megatron was gleefully holding in his hands now. Ratchet was the first to react, medical instincts kicking in as he ran to the broken saboteur's side.<p>

"Jazz!"

He fell down besides the groaning mech and carefully helped the stubbornly struggling ops agent to at least sit up again. Not being able to do more than absently pressing one of the medic's hands in thanks, Jazz glanced over to where he had been forced to drop the knife, thanks to Starscream, then over to the nastily grinning Decepticons.

"No killing of our 'dear' comrade today, little Autobot", Megatron rumbled before sadistically adding. "Say goodbye to your mate, Autobot!"

* * *

><p>Everything happened very fast after that. As Megatron moved to press the button of the device, Jazz locked optics with his bondmate who had sunken to the ground in defeat after Jazz had been forcefully separated from him. Ideas and scenarios were entering and leaving the saboteur's processor in klicks until one last, desperate idea remained.<p>

Megatron pressed the button and Barricade's form doubled over in pain. This time he could feel the burning heat of the virus travelling within his energon lines and washing through his systems, trying to corrupt them. It was painful, like something trying to eat one inside out, breaking one in two, just the way Jazz had felt when Megatron was really breaking him apart. Groaning he activated his antivirus protocols, one last, desperate attempt to fight the virus before it reached his processor.

He knew he was fighting a losing battle, but the one last comforting thought he had left was that even though Skywarp had physically separated them, nothing could hinder his beloved bondmate from killing himself. The Decepticons did not know about their sparkbond. In fact no one knew. Otherwise they would not have been so dumb to separate them and sent Jazz simply flying over to his own comrades.

Another wave of pain rolled through his body and his spark reached out to its other half. He could feel Jazz's answer and then a whisper of a question.

/Prowler, Ah know we're out of options, but do ya trust meh?/

/Of course I do, Jazz. I would not love you, would not have bonded with you, if I did not trust you./

/Then allow meh one last try before we end this./

And the saboteur sent over the images of his scheme. A plan so crazy that Prowl could not help but balk at the very idea of it.

/That's dangerous!/ he cried out. /You will more than likely fail!/

/Prowler, Ah hate t' inform ya but our fate is sealed if Ah don't try it./

/But it will hurt you. It will be really, really painful./

The tactician could feel the comforting, soothing emotions his bonded sent over to calm him down.

/Ah'm ops, Sparkles. Ah'm used t' pain an' torture. An' before ya object, Ah remember what ya think about mah tendencies for self-destruction. But this ain't about meh, this is about saving ya. Because Ah've t' admit Ah'd rather see ya live a little bit longer than let ya die now./

He allowed his bondmate to see his conviction, his absolute determination to at least try everything in his might to save the one mech he loved with his entire spark before he ended it all.

/Please, love, let meh try!/

And Prowl, in face of the overwhelming feelings he was suddenly confronted with, could do nothing but give in.

/Alright, try it. But if it takes too much out of you I simply want you to end it. Your suffering is not worth the inevitable./

/Thank you, love!/

Jazz came out of the connection and looked over at the energon knife near Prowl's doubled over form. Then he glanced up at Ratchet. The serious, determined expression on the saboteur's face caused the medic to experience a nasty feeling of déjà vu. The last time he had seen the other look like this was just before he went off to fight against Megatron, forcing his comrades to witness the Decepticon leader ripping him apart and believing him dead.

"Whatever happens th' next astroseconds, Ratch', don't interfere or ya could easily cause mah death."

Not allowing the shocked Autobot a chance to ask what in the pit Jazz was going to do, the saboteur already activated his magnetic field on his uninjured hand and aimed it at the energon knife near Prowl's feet. The knife flew into his waiting hand and with a swift command he triggered the opening sequence of the protective layers to his sparkcase. Before anyone could move or utter more than a horrified scream Jazz plunged the knife in the direction of his spark.

Shouts echoed around the farm, only to be drowned out by the painful scream of Barricade whose body suddenly twitched spastically on the ground while both his hands flew over the place that hid his spark and pressed against heated breast plates in agonising pain.

Jazz answered that cry with a quiet groan of his own. His hands were slightly shaking in an obvious battle for control. The energon knife hovered over his exposed and glowing spark, the tip just barely breaking the surface. It was not enough to kill him but it triggered nearly unbearable pain and it took all his past training and experiences as an ops agent to bear with the pain enough to keep his hands steady. He could not allow himself to twitch and accidentally drive the blade deeper into his spark, causing an instant death. But he could also not allow himself to recoil because that would destroy the very reason why he did this and he would not get a second chance.

Therefore he bore and tried to suppress the agony as much as he could while he was not able to prevent waves and waves of pain rolling over the bond to the still twitching Prowl on the ground.

* * *

><p>The Saleen was lying helplessly where he was, the bond continuing to tell him that it was about to be broken, that the other half was dying. It was agonising and he clearly remembered feeling this kind of pain once before, orns and orns ago when Megatron tried to rip his beloved into two. But besides the horrible pain, there was something else. Just like before his whole processor was focused on his spark and bond and it recognized something trying to interfere with who Prowl was in essence. Different firewalls and antivirus programs were triggered and while the pain of the bond continued to roll in waves, at the edge of his consciousness he realized that the heat and ache caused by the virus decreased until finally nothing was left.<p>

Decepticons, Autobots and humans were all watching the unfolding events with shock and confusion, some with horror and terror on their faces.

Ironhide was even screaming at their medic in panic and anger.

"Ratchet, what the hell are you waiting for? Stop what he's doing, he's killing himself!"

But Ratchet was barely able to shake his head, his body stock still supporting Jazz as he forced himself to not even twitch for a klick.

"I can't", he ground out in a mixture of anger and deep concentration. "If I try to interfere I could kill Jazz. We can do nothing but wait and see what this stupid, processor-rusted slagger has been thinking for doing this after he finishes."

Ironhide seemed about to respond with his own choice of words when he was interrupted by a screech of furious anger.

* * *

><p>"Dormant? How can that slagging virus become dormant again?" Starscream stood beside his leader and glared heatedly down at the device in Megatron's hands. Obviously the tool had taken another scan at the twitching form of Barricade on the ground and the result was certainly not what the second in command expected.<p>

In front of the medic Jazz let out a sigh of relief, removing the tip of the blade from piercing his spark. However he did not move the knife fully out, instead allowed it to hover just above his spark, much to Ratchet's anger and resentment. He knew Jazz was doing it on purpose. It seemed he was not done here, simple awaiting the next phase and hindering the Autobot commanding medical officer to disarm him the first chance he got. Ratchet did not like that fact at all.

Throwing a look over at the angry Decepticons and Starscream's exclamations of "Why?", Jazz lips turned up into a grim smile.

"That's for meh t' know an' ya t' never find out, fragger", the Autobots nearest, like Ironhide, Optimus and Ratchet, as well as some human soldiers and Sam could hear the saboteur mutter.

Jazz spared an especially long glance at the young man who he had last seen as a frightened teenager desperate to get the Allspark away from the furious Decepticon leader. Sam had taken his place right beside Ratchet ready to offer any help he could with the current situation and Jazz's strange behaviour. He had obviously seen a lot those past years and he had certainly grown.

The saboteur sent a small but honest smirk down the young man's direction and waved with the hand that was not busy holding a dangerous energon knife over his open spark chamber.

"Hi Sam, long time no see. How's crackin'?" he greeted the human with a ghost version of his old self. How had he been able to crack stupid little jokes anyway again, with his beloved Prowl thought lightmillennia away?

Sam Witwicky waved hesitantly back at the ops agent.

"Seriously?" he replied to the Autobot's greeting. "I would feel better if you were not pointing a sharp, dangerous knife to your exposed spark and if the Decepticons would be simply gone. Or perhaps locked away securely?"

The saboteur could not help but snicker over the choice of words and the way the teen had spoken them, while half of his processor was busy checking on his mate and exchanging love and pride through their bond. He certainly liked the young man, even if he had not known him for long. Being a perceptive mech, thanks to his job, he had noticed from the first moment that the boy seemed to have a knack for using speech, even when terrified or nervous.

Sadly, his moment of amusement was broken, when Starscream loudly required another activation of the virus. Sighing again he sent one last burst of love through the bond while addressing his fellow comrades.

"Okay, everyone with queasy fuel close your optics and offline your hearin'", he muttered. "Here we go again."

And through the protest of every Autobot, the NEST soldiers and even his own bondmate, he pierced the tip of the blade through the first layer of his spark again. His last coherent thought before pain filled his senses once more was his surprise about noticing that Sam was one of the few who stayed oddly silent while watching his actions.

tbc...


	9. Chapter 8

Sorry for the one-day delay but I made a mistake and sent my betareader the wrong version, therefore causing her more work. I hope waiting out the suspense hasn't killed you yet. I also thank anyone who has taken time to write me some feedback. I loved every single one and appreciate it very much.  
>So now enjoy chapter 8.<p>

Part: 8/12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl, Ratchet/Ironhide  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:  
>Vorn - 83 years<br>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking  
>~...~ - comm.-speech<p>

microchip morons – stupid fools  
>dim-spark – dimwit<br>glitchhead – idiot  
>bit-brain – pea-brain<p>

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>When Jazz pierced his spark the second time with the energon blade, creating the illusion of mortal danger for his bondmate in order to help fight off the virus, he noticed that his beloved's antivirus worked a lot quicker than the time before. He saw that as a good sign and pointed out his observation to Prowl when the tactician requested he cease his actions, should Starscream decide that a third time was in order.<p>

The Saleen transformer could not deny the truth of the facts Jazz had to offer for a continuation and allowed him to suffer them both through a third and even fourth time of creating an appearance of dying.

By that time the NEST soldiers and also most of the Autobots realized whatever the Decepticons did was somehow forcing Jazz into his strange actions. Had they been willing so far to hold back any attack on Optimus' order while the dispute was between the Decepticons only, they considered attacking now that those actions endangered some of their own comrades.

However, the saboteur knew that he could not risk Starscream, who by now was again the holder of Shockwave's little virus remote control, to get away with an intact remote if he ever wanted to free his bondmate. Therefore he requested a delay, just before he had to suffer through a fourth round of sparkpain.

Not very surprisingly his request, forwarded by Ratchet - the only one near enough the saboteur to listen to his near-silent words - was met with disbelief and unwillingness. However Optimus again intervened, declaring his faith in the decision of the Autobot head of special ops and ordered the whole NEST-team to restrain any attacks, but stay on alert.

By then Starscream seemed to finally have realized something because instead of trying it a fifth time, as his impatient nature would have suggested, he kept a tight grip on the tool while throwing repeated quick glances from the heaving form of Barricade to Jazz and back.

Jazz could see the moment some piece of the puzzle seemed to piece together in the seekers processor, when his optics suddenly brightened and he even hold away the device from the impatient Megatron who was demanding his second in command start another round.

* * *

><p>"No", everyone could hear the trine leader snapping at his leader, something that happened very seldom. The seeker was known for his backstabbing and arrogance but he also had a very healthy sense of self-preservation, one of the reasons that also caused him to be famous for being a coward.<p>

"You dare to deny me, Starscream?" Megatron growled out threateningly, his hands grabbing for the device and again he was denied by his second in command.

"In this case, yes", Starscream retorted, desperately trying to explain his reasons to save his poor body from another round of abuse. "I can see it now. The way Barricade clutches his spark, while it seems that this other Autobot scum is piercing his heart. Shockwave always insisted that we not use this virus for bondmates, because sparkbonds are still rather unknown and an unreliable variable for a virus like this. Sparbonded define themselves outside their own processor and that's a rather big risk we cannot take."

Again the second in command glanced over at the grimacing Jazz who was watching him like a hawk, and the poor form of Barricade, who had finally stopped twitching and was sitting with his back against the wall of the still intact part of the barn.

"What does that stupidity have to do with anything?" Megatron rumpled rather displeased, his impatience now causing him to overlook what his second in command concluded.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Starscream sneered over at the Autobots and let his hands sweep in demonstration from Jazz to Barricade. "He is clutching his sparkcase while that other idiot is torturing his own spark. They are bonded. This would certainly explain why we had so many problems with Barricade, contrary to our expectations. That saboteur's actions are triggering something that causes Barricade to fight the virus and force it dormant."

"I see", Megatron finally seemed to calm down a bit and threw a quick glance from the wary saboteur, to the shocked looking Autobots over to where a rather tense Saleen transformer was leaning against the wall. Then he quickly grabbed the device from the seekers hands, catching him by surprise and triggered another activation of the virus, grinning cruelly down at his gaping second in command.

"They might have found a way to fight this virus with their bond, but it obviously is a rather painful one", he deigned to explain his actions. "So we just need to keep going until one of them is finally giving up in face of the pain."

* * *

><p>He... is right, you... know?/ Prowl was able to brokenly send his thoughts over the bond. After four rounds of spark deep pain the tactician felt rather wary and he knew that Jazz must feel even worse with his strong injury and the original pain he caused by piercing his spark.

/Jazz, you tried to protect me, to save our life here, but I can't allow you to cause yourself pain again and again just to prevent the virus from taking over. I can't watch you suffering like this./

He could immediately feel the answering refusal of Jazz to give up that easily and then he received images and calculations that promised a resolution of a different kind, a goal that they had nearly reached.

/Apart from wha' this does t' meh, would ya be able t' go through this one more time?/ Jazz asked rather forcefully. /Ah know ya want meh t' stop hurting an' ya insecure about th' success. But allow meh t' try one last time an' Ah promise Ah will end it all, if tha' doesn't work either. As long as ya feel yerself ready to suffer one las' time. Ah can't just give up yet./

Prowl considered his mate's request while trying to ignore the burning pain and heat the new activation of the virus caused him to suffer through. It felt a lot less painful than the first time anyway and he was somehow certain that Jazz was right. Something was happening. Each time period when he succeeded in forcing the virus back into dormancy, was getting smaller and smaller.

He heaved a sigh through his vents and relented.

/One last time, Jazz. I can bear it one last time, but if that does not bring the results you wish for, then I want you to end your suffering. How you can control yourself like that while experiencing so much pain will always be beyond me anyway./

/Thank ya, love!/ Jazz replied, sending his gratitude, pride and love through their bond before he concentrated on the blade in his hands again. Prowl braced himself for what he knew would be the last round of intensive pain. He was determined to see this through, now that they had come so far, but he could not deny how surprised he was of himself, that he kept up with this as long as he had.

A long time ago, Jazz had expressed his concern to prevent the tactician to ever suffer from Decepticon torture. It had been first and foremost a selfish wish for the tactician's safety. Yet, the unspoken lack of faith in Prowl's pain endurance was obvious if one asked him and he remembered very well how discouraged he had been of Jazz's judgment. Yet not long ago after that, he was forced to admit that his bondmate had been right from the beginning as he was beaten to the ground by an enemy and already wishing it would end.

He was created and educated to be a tactician, to fight with his mind most of all. Therefore it was only logical, that he was not well in enduring pain. However, Prowl guessed he had grown since those days. He had his fair share in being beaten up, though no torture, and with his body's unwilling change into what was now known as Barricade, it seemed he simply had learned to endure a lot more than he ever expected.

Of course, that did not mean he would ever be able to meet such horrible pain as calm and controlled as his beloved bondmate did, who just now pushed the tip of the blade back into his spark. Pain exploded inside Prowl's own spark and he could not help but groan and twitch as his body lost its balance and fell from his sitting position to the ground once again.

Through a haze of pain he could hear Starscream howling in rage, ranting something about unforeseen factors that could destroy everything. On the other side of their bond, which was right now as open and clear to him than ever before, he could listen to Ratchet muttering curses while trying to again sit stock still to not distract Jazz's concentration.

The saboteur himself was torn between concentrating on his iron hard will to not give in to the pain or watching Prowl through his optics and the bond for any unusual reaction besides the expected suffering that resonated from two bonded sparks.

Prowl only started to realize what Jazz had been hoping for when instead of his body slowly cooling down after his antivirus fought successfully against the virus, he could feel himself heat up even more. He shuddered, now from not only pain but heat as well and then, within astroseconds, his tanks quivered and he didn't realize they had emptied themselves, until he was nearly through with retching out his insides.

Only after there was nothing of his nearly half processed fuel left, did he notice that the pain of an about to break bond vanished and he could instead feel emotions of triumph and concern floating through their connection into his spark. But only when he heard Starscream's screeching and cursing, did he really grasp, what Jazz had been planning to accomplish.

* * *

><p>"It's gone! See, the virus is gone!" the Decepticon second in command screamed frustrated and waved around the device he had taken back from Megatron. "This is exactly why I did not want to continue as you oh so stupidly did."<p>

The seeker realized his mistake when Skywarp and Thundercracker winced and stepped away from him and a fist flew through the air right into his faceplates. The punch Megatron bestowed upon him sent the second in command flying a good distance away from where his comrades stood.

As he landed on the ground, the Decepticon leader was already beside him, one hand closing around his neck and holding him up into the air.

"I think you forget your place, Starscream", Megatron growled out, his red optics flashing bright in unsuppressed anger. The seeker realized that he had lost himself too much in the scientific aspect of the current situation and ended up only seeing the destruction of an important, interesting experiment. He raged, totally forgetting that he was no longer a scientist and first and foremost a soldier in a war and with a leader that did not take well to back talking.

Whimpering the Decepticon second in command tried to at least calm down his leader enough so he would not be killed.

"But Lord Megatron", he whined pathetically. "With triggering the virus into action again and again we just caused his antivirus system to learn until it was able to defeat it instead of forcing it into a simple dormancy. Now the virus is absolutely gone and this stupid tool is useless to us. All I did was to try to prevent that from happening."

Megatron answered with a deep rumble and one of his arms transformed into a weapon which he hold right against the seeker's spark. Whimpering yet again in fear and pain, Starscream tried one last attempt.

"My Lord, if you kill me now who will help you fight against the Autobot scum, now that they certainly gained one more comrade? You'll be outnumbered, if you don't allow me to assist."

Silence followed that statement for about ten astroseconds.

"You are, for now, right, Starscream", the leader of the Decepticon admitted grudgingly. "You will stand your ground and fight with us at this instant. In fact I will spare your life for now. But don't think for a klick that your current actions have been forgotten. I will watch you closely after your little stunt and you should hope that you will never displease me again."

He released the seeker who ended up on the ground in a heap of metal.

"Thank you, Lord Megatron", the second in command tried to assure his loyalty by sweet talking as much as possible, much to the displeasure of all three remaining Decepticons.

* * *

><p>Jazz, the Autobots and the humans had listened and watched what took place between the enemy, though the saboteur was a bit distracted by checking on his bonded as well as Ratchet probing him none too gently after he had finally moved the energon blade away from his spark. The second the knife had not been dangerously near to his life force anymore, the Autobot medic acted and knocked the risky object out of the saboteur's hand.<p>

"You slagging, dim-sparked, processorless piece of a tailpipe!" he started to rant, while he sent the first probing scans over the broken body in his lap. "What did you THINK you were achieving with what you just did? Not that I expect you to be capable of thinking. After all, first your fight with Megatron and now THIS? Are you out of your processor?"

Jazz could not help but wince over the volume Ratchet's voice had reached by the end of his first triad. Trying to end this as quickly as he could, he opened his mouth before the medic had the chance to.

"Ah know yer furious an' ya want answers an' diagnosis. But before Ah explain mahself, before ya can do an' say anything more, Ah want back over there, where Barricade sits an' is suffering from th' aftermath of an unpleasant purge. An' if ya not willing t' help meh, Ah understand but Ah go there mahself."

For a moment the medic stared at the saboteur with an expression that asked if he was making a very, very bad joke. But then he remembered that the patient in his arms was bonded and his mate lay not too far away looking rather miserable. Of course Jazz would be thinking about his bondmate first and himself later. It had always been the annoying characteristics of bondmates, one of many reasons why the Autobots and neither the Decepticons wished to accept bonded couples in their midst.

The risk factor was simple too high. Bonded couples were not only taking their bonded's comfort above everything else, leading to misjudgement and prepossession in decision making, they also meant a double lose, if one of them died in the fighting, because a bonded spark would always follow their dead mate to the Well of Allsparks.

To realize that Jazz, their high ranking officer, was bonded to a Decepticon no less, was a heavy blow to every Autobot present. After all it had been no secret that Prowl, original second in command, and Jazz had been sparkmates. Of course, the saboteur had been known for his berth-hopping long before he met the Autobot tactician, but Ratchet had questioned the truth of that rumour ever since they learned that Jazz had always been a secret ops agent, in fact the BEST ops agent their fraction ever had. For all he knew, the rumour about his berth-hopping could very well been put to life by Jazz himself to feed his undercover image.

But shortly before his cover blew, Jazz was forced to announce his steady relationship with Prowl for the sake of the tactician's well being and ever since then they had been devoted to each other outside of their work. He remembered how hard it had been for both mechs, when the crew for the Allspark retrieval was definite. They took it hard, the upcoming separation, though they understood the decision from the point of their soldier identity. That did not mean they had to like it.

In fact, Jazz demanded the last half orn before launching to be declared unfit for work for him and Prowl and they spent nearly all of their time behind closed doors. Only Bluestreak, Mirage, Hound, Bee and surprisingly the twins were allowed to approach the couple and only in a limited amount of time.

Jazz had not seen Prowl ever after the start of their search for the Allspark, but everyone knew he missed him terribly. It made the medic thankful that he at least was allowed to keep his lover with him, because the idea of Ironhide and himself separated hurt a lot more than he was comfortable admitting and in their case they had never even been considered sparkmates.

Til their landing on Earth Ratchet had absolutely no doubt that Jazz's spark had always been partly with Prowl, no matter there they were and what they did. And now they found out that a Decepticon was bond to his spark. How could that fit together? Better, how did it happen and then?

Deciding that the answers to his question could only come with actions, Ratchet growled a bit and glared down at the smaller mech in his arms, but without another word, he stood up, Jazz carefully held, and went over to the lone Decepticon, who was just trying to move back into a sitting position.

Knowing he could trust a bondmate with his bonded's life, the Autobot medical officer had no qualms to lie Jazz down just beside the Decepticon and stood back to perform a quick scan over them both.

Jazz had watched his every move carefully, even after he was finally within reaching point of his bondmate again. Grabbing Prowl's servos to lace them together with his own, he looked over to the puddle of half digested energon thoughtfully before coming to a decision.

"Ratch' you might wish to take a sample out of what he's purged", the saboteur started quietly when he was sure that the medic was done with his scans. "But be VERY careful, because whatever you might find inside the sample can turn out to be quite dangerous. I have no idea how that stupid virus works and what kind of contact is necessary."

"A virus?" Ratchet replied sharply his medical interest kindled, no matter how bizarre their current situation in general was. "I heard the Decepticons talking about a virus, but frankly I don't know what's going on. However, I have a feeling that you know exactly what they were talking about and you are going to tell me, because I am sure as the pit will not sit here and accept the given facts, just because you feel like it. You two, and I don't care if you are a Decepticon or not", he declared sharply in Barricade's direction, "will do some nice question - answer game with ME asking the questions."

Both mechs simply nodded, knowing Ratchet well enough to realize any protest would be a very, very stupid idea.

"Ah was planning t' tell ya everything anyway", Jazz finally told the medic when he was bending down to carefully extract a sample of the purged energon into one of his safest container he had with him. "Just wanted th' Decepticons t' be taken care of first."

"Right, so are Optimus and our soldier allies now allowed to attack the Decepticons, if the situation requires it?" Ratchet dryly asked the saboteur while putting the container into another one just to be safe. He did take it seriously when Jazz emphasised the possible danger of what his mate had purged and he was not taking any chances. He subspaced the double packed container into his special pocket and paid his full attention back to the bonded couple.

"Besides, if you two microchip morons want to be safe from any dim-sparked actions of our own, especially from the human soldiers, I need to get back there for a klick or two and explain bondmates to them. Thankfully at least our own people know about this and I am quite sure an order from Optimus will prevent even the twins from doing anything accidentally until you explained this situation in detail. And make no mistakes, you WILL explain in EVERY little detail", Ratchet emphasised and glared at the two mechs on the ground.

Jazz was grinning slightly at the show of his usual manners, though it was obvious that the saboteur was physically and emotionally exhausted. He only fought to stay on alert because of the Decepticons, who were watching them with calculating eyes as well as the Autobots and NEST soldiers, who were mistrusting both, their own supposed comrade and of course his Decepticon bondmate.

The special ops soldier was nudging his bonded now and to Ratchet's great surprise he found himself addressed suddenly on a private Autobot commlink by the Decepticon.

~Jazz and I are expecting the Decepticons to attack us the moment you leave~, the Ford Mustang Saleen informed the medic in a simple manner. ~We concluded that if they cannot take me back, they want to make sure I cannot be of help to the Autobots either. They noticed your confusion and mistrust at Jazz over the revelation of our bond, therefore I calculated they don't expect a reaction to an attack the moment you return to your comrades. ~

But Ratchet was having none of that. Instead he stared incredulously at the black and white Decepticon before throwing an accusing glare at Jazz.

~How the frag do you have the data for our commlink?~

Jazz, who did not need to be involved in their private talking to guess what Ratchet was glaring at him about, shrugged his shoulder joints and looked at the medic with an air of all innocent.

"Don' look at meh, Ratch'. Mah comms are destroyed among other things, so no information leak from mah side."

"But you know how!" the Search and Rescue vehicle transformer accused, which caused the smaller mech to grin.

"Of course Ah do, an' ya supposed t' find out when it's safe, remember?"

Getting the hint, Ratchet burst a quick message over a very private commlink to Optimus, informing him they better were ready to protect these two glitchheads until he could get his hands back on them or they would be very sorry they destroyed his chance to get answers to the whole fragging situation.

All three mechs watched discreetly as the Prime acknowledged Ratchet's message by silently informing his comrades and the humans both. And while some of the bots, especially Ironhide and the twins looked not happy with the order their Prime gave them, the soldiers looked even less happy. Some of them were glancing at the Decepticon with an alarming glint in their eyes, just as Ratchet had predicted.

Nodding to their medic when informations and orders had been given, Ratchet stood up from his crouched position in front of the two injured mechs and nodded.

~You will definitely not be harmed if we can help it.~ he assured the Saleen over another comm-message. ~And I promise to be back in a klick.~ With one last nod in their direction he turned around and left.

* * *

><p>Megatron waited until the medical officer of the Autobtos was a safe distance away from the two handicapped mechs and already urgently addressing the human soldiers. Then he roared in triumph and looked back at his Decepticons.<p>

"If we cannot use him, then no one shall!" he announced to his soldiers. "Decepticons, attack!"

But before anyone could move the slightest transformation sequence for their weapons, they all heard the familiar hum of a ready weapon and suddenly there stood Bumblebee and Ironhide in front of the two injured mechs, weapons pointed directly at the Decepticons.

"Are you sure you want to attack?" Major Will Lennox, one of the few humans who trusted the judgement of Optimus Prime without further explanations for now, shouted from his cover at the side of the rest Autobots, his weapon ready and also pointed at the Decepticons. "Because the moment you trigger your weapons you will find out that every single Autobot here is ready and willing to fight. You might usually feel superior, but don't you think you are a bit outnumbered to risk your metal armor like that?"

"If they are outnumbered like that how come we ain't taking them prisoners", Robert Epps whispered at his commander in obvious surprise.

"Because, do you remember the last time we had a fight with that jet with the purple stripes?" Will whispered back. "He can teleport and he can take at least one mech with him, meaning they would be able to get away anyway. Besides, Optimus said that in this case he would prefer if there will simply be no fight at all. It's more trouble than it's worth it, his words, not mine."

Epps just nodded in understanding. He knew from experience that Megatron alone was a force to be reckoned with and it would be nice in this case, if they would not lose more brave men in another fight. Especially since there was still the mystery with the thought dead Jazz and what they called a bondmate, who was none other than the Decepticon Barricade. Therefore it would be far nicer to skip the nasty parts and simply get some explaining done.

* * *

><p>Megatron seemed to realize that he had miscalculated the willingness of the Auotbots to fight for what they thought to be a Decepticon and he grounded his denta in obvious anger. He was no fool. He might succeed in killing those two bondmates, but he might risk some of his best soldiers for that price. Soldiers who he still needed in his future plans, especially Skywarp with his unique ability. He could not take that risk, not today.<p>

Growling he glared back at Optimus Prime, who also had his weapons focused on the Decepticon leader, then back at the two bonded mechs just behind Bumblebee and Ironhide.

"You will regret what you did today", he promised in a dangerous low voice. "I will kill you for this, slowly and painfully, that's a promise."

Barricade was returning the look of the Decepticon leader unfazed, saying nothing. Jazz on the other hand was ignoring the threatening 'Con altogether and concentrated wholly on the second in command who was cowering just a bit behind his leader.

"Starscream", he addressed the seeker in a calm but icy voice, "be assured th' moment Ah'm fine again, Ah will make it mah mission of life t' hunt ya down. Ya an' Shockwave, that's a promise. Ya will regret th' day yer were sparked. What ya did was unforgivable an' as repayment ya will help meh t' find out jus' how long Ah can torture a Decepticon before he dies. Ah don't care about Autobot rules, ya hear meh? Th' only thing Ah care is repayment for what ya did t' mah mate. So ya better hide far away from meh an' tell Shockwave he better do th' same if he wants t' stay alive. Not tha' it will help ya, be assured."

Starscream could not help but whimper in fear. Usually he did not take Autobot threats seriously. The twins were insulting and threatening his trine all the time and they still lived. However, an angered bondmate was known to be unreasonable and always focused on the other part of their spark. The way Jazz looked at him, it was obvious that he was speaking nothing but the truth. Besides, he was the most dangerous ops agent the Autobots had in their midst and all Decepticons were aware just how unpredictable and deadly the legendary Meister could be.

Of course, Megatron couldn't care less that his second in command was just promised to be killed by an injured Autobot. Angry and with hurt pride he simply hit the nearest seeker, which turned out to be Starscream, into the sides before ordering a retreat.

"This was not the last you've heard of me, Prime!" he threatened the Autobot leader. "We will meet again and then things will not look in your favor once more."

Megatron and Thundercracker transformed and with a burst of powerful engines flew away, while Skywarp took the injured Starscream, who could no longer fly thanks to Jazz's successful shot to his wing, and warped them back to their secret base.

* * *

><p>Optimus Prime simply triggered a long release of air from his vents, a close simulation of a human sigh.<p>

"I have no doubt we will, brother", the Prime muttered dejectedly before concentrating on the situation at hand. He still had a seriously wounded second in command and his Decepticon bondmate to take care off.

tbc...


	10. Chapter 9

As always I start this story with thanking all the wonderful readers who took the time to leave a comment for me. ^^ I hope you will enjoy the next chapter. I have to admit, this one was one of the most difficult because certain bot's *coughsSideswipecoughs* didn't want to cooperate at all. In the end, I was still rather satisfied with what those stubborn mecha came up with. And now enough of the babbling, enjoy chapter 9!

Part: 9/12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: angst, romance, suspense, slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl, Ratchet/Ironhide  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:  
>Vorn - 83 years<br>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

glitchhead – idiot  
>bit-brainbit-processor – pea-brain  
>dim-spark – dimwit<p>

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.  
>Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.<p>

* * *

><p>After the retreat of the Decepticons was absolutely clear, Ironhide and Bumblebee stepped immediately back from their protective position in front of the bonded couple. While the two Autobots did not return to their comrades, they stood a safe distance away, unsure as what should happen next. Ironhide especially had a hard time controlling the urge to simply charge his weapons and just end the Decepticon's miserable life.<p>

If he had not seen the way their own head of special ops acted around the Ford Mustang Saleen, he would not have believed that a Decepticon could be bonded to an Autobot and certainly not a high ranking officer. The thought made his energon boil and he did not even care about the ban on bonded couples being Autobot soldiers. He only wanted to beat the scrap out of Jazz for taking a Decepticon as his sparkmate.

Too bad Jazz already looked far too beaten up as it was. And he knew that Ratchet would not appreciate having to repair even more than was already obvious. It might result in the weapon specialist ending without any of his beloved weapons after his next check up with his lover.

* * *

><p>Bumblebee was just as confused. He had his personal clashes and scores to settle with Barricade, but there were two things that contained the yellow Camaro from getting too angry. First he trusted his superior. Jazz never did things without good reason, no matter how out of the blue and crazy some of his plans had been in the past. The second reason though, was Sam's behavior toward the Saleen.<p>

Being threatened and nearly beaten to death never sat well with Sam. He should have cowered, been scared or tried to act tough like he did after Megatron's appearance. Instead he was surprisingly calm. Bumblebee had watched his charge interact with Jazz and how he threw the sparkbonded thoughtful, partly confused glances. There had never been fear in the young man's eyes, besides that one moment just after their arrival. It was strange and he decided he wanted to find all parts of the puzzle first, before he jumped to the wrong conclusions.

* * *

><p>After the humans hesitantly emerged from their cover, there was an awkward, uncertain silence until Ratchet began to growl and stalked his way back over to the absolutely exhausted bonded couple.<p>

"For Primus' sake stop looking as if he would suddenly jump up and bang your thick heads together", the medic grouched, fed up. "They are obviously worn out. Barricade must have been feeding Jazz's spark with his own energy since the day of the fight in Mission City. He is beyond exhausted. He can't do anything more than lift a claw. Oh and he saved our comrades life, by the way. And Jazz, you are going to recharge this instant. You can be thankful that I'm considerate enough to consider the current circumstances or you would already know what I think about your stunt of walking around with a half cut midsection right besides your other acts of stupidity."

* * *

><p>The saboteur mumbled something into the shoulder joint of his bondmate while he just leant more heavily against Prowl's side. He would have loved nothing more than to recharge, but he knew the storm could start any klick and he was not willing to leave his bonded with a bunch of suspicious Autobots and humans just to get his own comfort.<p>

As if on cue, the storm began, just not with Ironhide or Chromia, who he had expected to voice their opinion first, fiery as they were, but with someone else, who felt just as strongly about the wrongness of the current situation.

"Personally I don't care if they are exhausted or if that 'Con's actions saved a life. They can go to the pit for all I care just for doing what they did", Sideswipe growled through clenched denta and stormed forward, right in front of Jazz. "What the frag did you do, Jazz? How could you, you worthless piece of slag? I will never forgive you for this, you hear me? NEVER!"

Even Jazz seemed surprised at the strength of the twin's outburst. It shocked everyone else into silence. Everyone besides Prowl, who reacted solely out of habit, forgetting for a moment his unique circumstances.

"Sideswipe!" the Saleen bellowed at the silver twin warrior, scandalised. "Stop shouting at Jazz this moment! He did nothing wrong!"

"Who are you to order me around, Decepticon?" Sideswipe sneered back, his face scrunched over in a grimace of pain and hatred. Prowl cringed back as if he had been slapped. Jazz immediately grabbed his bonded's hands tightly in his own and tried to soothe his mate through their bond.

/He's reactin' jus' as a good friend would/, the saboteur comforted. /He's angry b'cause he thinks Ah've betrayed ya. He's still lookin' out for ya, even if yer seemingly separated./

/I am not sure he would still wish to consider looking out for me if he knew the truth/, Prowl answered miserably. /After all I have done.../

/What th' 'Cons have done, NOT ya!/ Jazz interrupted with a forceful emotion. /Remember, no blamin' yerself, Prowler, or Ah will start listin' off all th' things Ah should be sorry about./

It seemed his bondmate still wanted to protest, but their talk was interrupted by Sideswipe's rather angry bellow.

"Stop talking through that FRAGGING BOND!"

No one uttered a word after the angry outburst until Jazz moved his head to look directly at the furious twin, face unfazed.

"Ya have a right t' be angry as much as ya want from what poor facts ya've been presented with so far", Jazz exclaimed calmly. "But ya're supposed t' find out all the facts before ya come t' conclusions. And ya're missing a really big part here, so's not yer time t'start yellin' like this."

"The PIT!" the twin bellowed and if surprisingly his own twin had not hold him back, Sideswipe definitely would have attacked the injured saboteur.

/Give it up trying to talk sense into him/, Prowl sighed. /He is not listening when he is aggravated like this./

/Speaking from experience when dealing with twins?/ Jazz asked, slight amusement flowing down their link.

/You tell me/, the tactician countered dryly.

"Let me go, Sunstreaker!" Sideswipe meanwhile fought against his brother. "I just want to pummel his sorry aft once. And then I will wait till Prowl arrives and make sure, VERY sure that this stupid excuse of an officer will never set a pede near him again."

/Funny he's sayin' that, because if Ah were any nearer t' ya, we would be interfacin'/, Jazz commented dryly and earned a small snort and feeling of reprimand from his bonded as answer.

* * *

><p>"About that", a new voice suddenly tried to interrupt Sideswipe's ranting. It went unheard, everyone too absorbed by the verbal battle between the usually more easy going twin and the injured saboteur. The voice tried to be heard three more times before the speaker had finally enough. A loud bang suddenly interrupted the shouting and ranting and this certainly got the attention of everyone.<p>

It was Chromia who in her frustration to speak sent off a shot from her arm canon. Surprisingly enough her face did not mirror her angry actions. Instead she looked more like she was exhausted and feeling miserable.

"If you could PLEASE let me talk now", she glowered, "I have something important to report. And it seems that it is far more urgent to tell you all, instead of just our Prime as I originally planned to do."

"A report you wanted to give to me, Chromia?" Optimus Prime asked curios and businesslike all at once.

"Yeah and if it's so important, why had you not reported it to Prime yet?" Sideswipe added with a sneer, his sour mood only doubled with her interruption.

The lithe and deadly warrior femme considered him with a look that did not speak of anger, as would have been her usual reaction, but of pity. This threw the angry twin so out of the loop that for a moment all signs of annoyance vanished from his faceplates.

"If you do not remember and haven't done the math, bit-processor, I have landed on Earth just before Blaster's report about the localisation of a Decepticon signal around Mission City came in", she explained coolly. "I was planning to report to our Prime the moment we arrived at the NEST base but as you might have noticed, we decided to do a little detour to back up your sorry afts here. Therefore the report had to wait a bit more. Or so I thought."

She forcefully threw air through her vents before she moved all her attention to her leader, Optimus Prime.

"Sir", she faltered after her brisk address and continued in a much softer, dejected voice, "since there are already some of the other bots on Earth, including those two glitchheads..."

"Hey, don't judge me by the same standard as my dim-sparked brother!" Sunstreaker protested indignantly but he was silenced, by a surprisingly stern gaze of Optimus Prime himself. He nodded silently for her to continue.

"As I said, I assume you have already been informed about the Decepticons' rather bold move after your departure that broke our whole army up into groups with no way to contact each other until Soundwave's departure from Cybtertron?"

Optimus Prime exchanged a dark look with the four comrades who had been with him on Earth from the very beginning, even Jazz, and the Prime was not surprised to notice that the saboteur seemed to know exactly what she was talking about, just as the rest of them did. But someone else thought even further and already came to the conclusion he knew what this report would be about.

/Of course, Chromia was in my group/, Prowl burst out, surprised that he did not make that connection sooner. /She must know what happened that cycle in that fight./

Clear understanding lightened Jazz's mind, though he allowed no one to see his reaction to his mate's words. Instead they both focused back on Chromia, when Optimus encouraged her to continue.

"Well, I was one of the few higher ranking officers who ended up in the group around Prowl. I... it is with my deepest regret that I... have to inform everyone that... Prowl is dead."

There was stunned silence for about an astrosecond before Sideswipe blinked his optics in sheer disbelief.

"Impossible!" the twin burst out, anger quickly returning.

"I am sorry if you cannot stomach the truth, Sideswipe", Chromia retorted with forced calm, "but unfortunately I was there and you were not. We first thought that the separation had been a simple, clever tactic of the Decepticons to take us out by overwhelming us in numbers. Not that they succeeded, at least not in our group", the frontline femme added with satisfaction in her voice.

"We were able to counter nearly every attack successfully because Prowl came up with really good plans and ideas. But then... ", she stopped to again blow air through her vents in her form of a sigh, "we found out that the breaking of our lines had only been the first step. A distraction, if you will. Their main goal was to get Prowl. They pushed until finally there was a fight where Prowl was forced to leave the ship to gain better insight which would feed his battle computer with improved tactics to repel them. However, we could not even blink an optic when Skywarp suddenly appeared besides him and before we realized what was going on, they vanished again. Afterwards we were rather lucky to get order back into our unit at all. It was just a good thing that I happen to be Elita's personal second in command. At least I had experience to lead, and we did well enough to get the pit away from Cybertron and later receive your message, Optimus Prime."

She looked at her leader again, before she turned around to face a rather incredulous looking Sideswipe.

"We tried to get Prowl out of Decepticon hands", she assured him, head bowed now. "I immediately sent some of the best agents I had with me to the Decepticon main base. We lost precious lives just to find out what happened to him", the warrior femme added bitterly and it sent a shudder deep inside of Prowl's spark, which his bondmate tried to soothe as much as he could. Sideswipe continued his act of denial by shaking his head repeatedly, not willing to believe a single word out of her vocaliser.

"When finally an agent was able to successfully infiltrate and return, the only thing he could report was that Starscream was angry about not having gathered any information and he found out that no prisoner was stationed at the base anymore."

This time Chromia's sorrowful gaze linger on Sideswipe, her face telling him to believe what she told him.

"Prowl was our second in command, the most important Autobot officer right after Optimus Prime. If he could no longer be found as a prisoner at the main base of the Decepticons, we can be assured, as much as it pains us, that Prowl has been questioned without success and then killed, since he was of no use to the Decepticons. That would also explain Starscream's dark mood. The only thing we can do now is honour Prowl's strength to withhold all information and in sacrificing his life for the cause."

"No!" the stubborn twin growled, glaring at the femme. "As long as you found no corpse to prove your assumption I will not believe that Prowl is dead. Prowl has a sharp processor. Why did your spy not check if he simply got away and was hiding somewhere in the Decepticon base?"

"Because", the femme warrior growled right back, finally fed up with Sideswipes antics, "if he escaped there would have been search parties all over the base. The activity of the base was normal though. The only unusual occurrence was Starscream's bad mood, but that can be explained perfectly well if a prisoner did not reveal anything to his liking."

"Well, I don't care, until I see Prowl's terminated body with my own optics I will continue to believe he's still alive!" Sideswipe declared, folding his arms. Chromia was about to retort something really nasty, but she was interrupted by someone else speaking up.

"He's right, ya know", Jazz quietly declared, focusing all optics and eyes back to him. "Ah know for a fact that Prowl's indeed still alive."

Surprise went through the row of the Autobots, Chromia even looked quite shocked. Only Sideswipe's reaction differed from the rest of his comrades. He still felt rather bitter towards Jazz for the obvious bond with a Decepticon, an enemy.

"Ooooh, the great Meister knows that Prowl is alive, of course", mocked the angry twin. "Talked to him lately? Did you tell him about your new 'boyfriend'?"

He used the human term on purpose, to give the insult more depth. Jazz however took Sideswipe's anger in unfazed. He even had the impudence to grin.

"Funny that ya ask, Sides' because Ah did indeed talk t' Prowl recently. An' Ah know for a fact that he's not likin' yer attitude right now."

"Impossible!" Ratchet immediately intervened, his vocaliser full of disbelief. "Your comm-line is slag, as is nearly everything of your operating systems. And we've had no unidentified landings since the joor we found out Soundwave was hiding as a satellite just around Earth's orbit. It's not possible for him to have arrived on Earth without our notice, yet you claim to have talked to him? Has your processor finally broken completely?"

Jazz allowed the medic to state his opinion, shaking his head in amusement.

"That, Ratchet, is somethin' Ah will answer t'gether with all th' other questions once Ah feel no longer exhausted", the saboteur explained, his optics dimming as if to prove his point of being beyond tired. He sighed and cuddled up beside Barricade who had silently watched the exchange between Sideswipe and now the medic.

* * *

><p>It was not difficult for Jazz to conclude that his bondmate had no doubt his words would not be believed as long as the truth was not out and proven. And for verification they needed the Autobot medic to take a look at the sample he had taken from Prowl's purging. The moment Ratchet realized what he was keeping there as a sample, questions certainly would arise as to who the mech was before he became Barricade. The saboteur planned for that to be their moment to explain everything.<p>

It was the best course of action, because at least then everyone could not help but believe them, no matter what. As if to prove their point, right now the first Autobots like Chromia, Arcee and Ironhide started to look at Jazz with mistrust in their optics. Even Sunstreaker, who so far had been surprisingly calm in face of what happened between Jazz and Sideswipe, was now narrowing his optics in a first open sign of distrust. Jolt on the other hand seemed to try and hold back judgment, though his whole body was tense and he kept standing behind the together mecha and Ratchet, looking unsure.

To be honest, Jazz was surprised that Bumblebee still considered him with a look that spoke more of confusion and thoughtfulness than doubt. But he guessed it was because they had a closer relationship through their work together than any other of the Autobots present. Bumblebee knew how ops worked, how Meister most of the time ticked. The clever scout and ops agent was still aware that he did not hold all parts of the puzzle, therefore he hold back on his judgment.

* * *

><p>The same it seemed applied to Optimus. Because before anyone could further interfere into the current discussion, he decided to address every single member of the NEST team, including Autobots and the even more confused humans alike.<p>

"All right, we stop questioning and fighting right now!" the leader of the Autobots ordered with a stern voice. "I understand some of you are upset and even more want to know what exactly is going on, me included. However, for now we should concentrate on the question of what will happen next."

The Prime focused his optics right on Will Lennox, the leader of the human NEST members.

"Major Lennox, I assume we were supposed to immediately return after our operation back to headquarters?" Optimus inquired and when the human nodded he continued with a calm vocalizer. "Then we have a problem. We have more members to transport than before and I doubt Jazz, Barricade, not to mention the twins who acted without authorisation, by the way", he sent a stern glance in Sideswipe's and Sunstreaker's direction, "will all fit into the one plane our group arrived with here."

"Just a klick, who says they have to return to headquarters with us anyway?" Ironhide interrupted the talk, anger finally bursting through. "I mean, with all what happened today I am not even sure we can trust Jazz, not to mention a stinking Decepticon."

"He's right", Sideswipe added. "I mean, look at what's happened and what he just said. Who the pit says that this is not all a trap? Maybe the Decepticons decided to send a little spy our way."

"A spy?" Bumblebee questioned incredulously. "And how should that work with Jazz by his side, even bonded to him?"

"And who says Jazz has not been a Decepticon all along?" Chromia asked calmly. Bumblebee only looked at the femme warrior as if she just proved that she was simply losing it.

"Personally I don't care if he is a Decepticon spy or not", Ratchet interfered with a growl. "Until further notice Jazz will be an Autobot officer, a VERY seriously INJURED Autobot officer and he needs to get on my surgical table ASAP. I don't have the right tools to care for him here more than has already been done. Therefore resolution for transportation now, talks later! They owe me answers anyway."

His declaration was met with various sounds of approval and disapproval.

Groaning, Optimus glanced over at his head of special ops and the Ford Mustang Saleen, who did nothing to object the doubting comrades and back up the yellow Camaro.

"Jazz, you need to wait here while I talk with the others and decide what will happen next."

* * *

><p>The saboteur knew Optimus wanted to limit the damage and spare their feelings by talking away from them. Personally Jazz did not care, at least not about himself. But he knew that Prowl took some of the accusations more personally than he should and therefore he gave the Prime a short nod of approval.<p>

"Do what is necessary, sir. We'll be right here maybe nappin' a bit if ya don't mind."

They both knew that the saboteur would rather rip out his sparkcase than take a nap right now, when he and his mate were in a rather worrying situation with their own comrades. But Optimus played along, nodding once more before he ushered his soldiers and the humans away from the bonded couple to talk out the problem.

tbc...

* * *

><p>Authors note: As the readers of Story of a Lifetime might have noticed, my Ratchett as no idea about the bond between Prowl and Jazz. When I finished writing this story, SoaL just reached the part "Truth will out" but it was just in the middle of it. Because of that I mentioned the sparklings somewhere, but never went with Ratchet knowing what was going on. I considered changing it before posting this story, but decided against it. See the chapter "Truth will out" as the official breaking point where my story simply becomes a "What if" story, not to mention that Tara's story is G1 while mine is Bayverse. I hope all you wonderful readers don't mind the fact too much and will still enjoy the next chapter. ^^ Thank you all for reading so far!<p> 


	11. Chapter 10

Thanks again for all the nice reviews! I loved them and I hope you'll be as happy with the next chapter as I am with receiving your replies. ^^

Part: 10/12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:  
>Vorn - 83 years<br>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>Jazz and Prowl both watched the Autobots deep in discussion with the humans just outside their hearing range. Not that the distance mattered. If Jazz had not been so gravely injured, and if he really wanted to listen in, he could have initiated some of his special programs to enhance his hearing range. Or simply hacked his subordinate's comm-line. "If" being the key word. Even in the case that his programs were fully functional, the saboteur felt no desire to eavesdrop.<p>

He just felt tired, deeply and utterly exhausted. Now that the heat of the moment was over, the Decepticons gone, the bond settled down a bit and Prowl safe - at least from being overtaken by the virus again - the saboteur could finally let his thoughts wander. And he was not sure if that was a good thing at all, because with the freedom to think came doubt.

"Did Ah do th' right thin'?" Jazz wondered aloud, his question a series of chirps and clicks, the familiar sounds of their creation language.

Prowl, who had actually drifted off into a half recharge from exhaustion, jolted online again, a sense of inquiry floating through their bond.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused by the vague question.

"When we realized that th' virus was still there an' could be activated again, mah first impulse was t' end it all", the special ops officer confessed to his bondmate. "But Ah felt ya through th' bond. Felt yer feelin's of terror an' pain but underneath that all Ah could also feel yer desperation that ya did not want t' end here. That's th' whole reason why Ah came up wit' this crazy plan in first case. Ah went wit' yer need t' survive. An' Ah clung t' what ya told meh t' believe in. Ah've not forgotten yer words from so long ago, Sparkles. Ah still try t' believe in ya."

Jazz paused for a moment, allowing air to leave his vents while watching his bondmate from the corner of his optics hidden by his visor. Through his spark he could feel Prowl's full focus on him now, accompanied by feelings of concern and careful masked alarm. He did not allow it to faze him and continued talking.

"It's jus' now that th' heat of th' situation is over, Ah come t' realise a lot of things. Look at our comrades. They're divided, because some of'em believe us t' be Decepticon spies. They will be hard t' convince now, least til Ratch' there finds out what exactly is hidin' pocketed in his subspace. An' it'll take some time t' analyse that sample. After all, he doesn't know what he's lookin' at there."

* * *

><p>"That is not too much of a problem though", Prowl tried to soothe his bonded's worries. "They always trusted you before, even knowing what your job was. If having a Decepticon as a bondmate has shaken that trust so much, perhaps you should consider taking a break from duty to give them time to see that you're still who you always were and that I haven't corrupted you. Allow them to keep an optic on you, if that makes them feel better. You'll rebuild their trust in time, and eventually they may also accept me through their faith in you until I can prove who I am."<p>

"That's true, but it's not just th' mistrust towards us that's bothering meh, Prowler. Ah expected that, given th' circumstances. But look at all that's happened within these nearly six stellar-cycles. Before that, especially after we had t' separate for th' search of th' Allspark, Ah told mahself again an' again that all we must do was put an' end t' Megatron. That mighta been a really tough task, but Ah believed wit' all mah spark, if Megatron was out of th' picture then we could finally find peace. But now it turns out that even killin' Megatron did do nothin' because he returned right back from th' pit. An' really, Sparkles, if that mech don't even stay offline when he gets terminated, what's left t' fight for? Maybe", he paused for another moment and Prowl could finally feel the confusion, pain and depression seeping through the bond that Jazz had bottled in for some time now. In fact the saboteur's mood had gone downhill right after he found out what happened during the whole time he was out from his injuries.

"Maybe we really should've simply gone t' th' Well of Allsparks. At least there we would've found peace - t'gether."

"Jazz", Prowl choked out, his feelings of shock and comfort bursting through their bond in waves, trying to embrace Jazz and help him through the amount of depression he was fighting. The tactician however got no chance to voice any words of comfort for his mate, because they were interrupted by someone else calling to them.

"Are you alright?"

Both mechs were startled out of their bond's connection and looked down in front of them, right into the worried eyes of one Sam Witwicky. If Prowl had had any doubts, in spite of the feelings he received through their bond, the depth of Jazz's depression was confirmed by the fact that the saboteur seemed to be as surprised as him by the human's proximity.

Also, Jazz did not even try to put his usual mask of aloofness back on. He simply acted as he felt: tired and miserable. Never, as long as he had known his bondmate, had Prowl witnessed him in this bad a mood. Usually when the saboteur was depressed his awareness increased, he became more dangerous to his surroundings and he did his best to play down what he really felt.

"Hey kid!" the head of special ops greeted the young man and to Prowl's relief he at least tried to give the human a smile, small as it was. "Shouldn't yah be over there wit' all th' other's decidin' over th' fate of th' bad'n'dangerous spies?"

* * *

><p>The worried look did not leave the young man's eyes, but the questions caused him to scrunch up his face none-the-less.<p>

"Nah, you know how it is", Sam dismissed the inquiry with a casual wave of his hand. "All that serious war-stuff is just for soldiers and such. Me, I am just a civilian, remember? I have no say in this anyway and I am not really interested, to be honest. I pity Will enough as it is every time the poor man tries to voice his thoughts with loudly arguing 'bots."

He grinned slightly, hoping to lighten the mood a bit with casual talk. However, instead of sharing in the humor of it all, both mechs looked more scandalised than anything else.

"Why'd they not teach ya fightin', Sam?" Jazz asked seriously. "Ah mean, come on: ya killed Megatron, Ah've heard. That alone should mark ya as every 'Con's favourite target."

"Besides Megatron never forgives nor forgets", Barricade added equally seriously. "He has been resurrected, that makes it even worse. Also, I heard you saved Optimus Prime's life, something the Decepticons will not have taken kindly. If not for the danger to your life, at least your heroic actions towards Prime should have earned you the right to learn to fight among us."

At those last words, Sam's face darkened. Even his worry over the two mechs seemed forgotten.

"Saving Optimus' life was hardly anything admirable", the young man told them, voice full of sorrow and surprisingly obvious self-hate. "It was the least I could have done. After all, it was my damn fault Optimus was killed in first place."

* * *

><p>Both mechs looked at each other in surprise. Of course they did not know every detail about what happened back then, they only had what Prowl was able to gather through the comm-lines.<p>

"What exactly happened?" Jazz was the first to ask. "We know that Megatron got ya an' Optimus fell while tryin' t' rescue ya. That hardly makes it yer fault, though. It ain't like ya asked t' be taken by Megatron in the first place."

"I as good as did by sending them all away", the young man told them bitterly. "When Optimus first approached me, he asked for my help. But I was so busy trying to lead a NORMAL life that I just brushed his request off, telling him that he was Optimus Prime and he didn't need my help with anything. I flat out refused a FRIEND, Jazz! I pushed them away from me, even Bumblebee, saying they were keeping me from being normal. And the next time I turn around Optimus is out there, his spark getting pierced by Megatron's weapon while he tried to protect me. To PROTECT me. ME, the friend who did not even want to help because it would put my normal world out of order."

* * *

><p>Sam stopped his quick talking, realizing that he just brought himself into a full rant, and took a deep breath. With wide eyes he looked up into first Jazz's, then Barricade's glowing optics.<p>

"After what happened I felt like the biggest ass on Earth", he confessed in a whisper. "Guilt ate at me and all I could think of was how I could undo what I did. Back then, contact with a splinter of the Allspark caused me to suddenly see symbols inside my head and I realized that instead of going crazy, I needed to find someone who would be able to read them, because they were meant to tell me something. So, we found out about the Matrix of Leadership and all I saw was a chance to save Optimus, to redeem myself. See? That's all it was about, that glorious action back in Egypt. It was simply payback, a way to repay myself for what I did."

Spent by his little outburst the young man sunk down to the ground and shook his head sadly. He no longer dared seek eye to optic contact with the two mechs, too afraid of what he might find.

* * *

><p>Jazz and Prowl, however, shared a simple look and exchange through the bond, coming to a decision. For a moment, even the saboteur's depression was all but forgotten.<p>

"Ah still say ya did somethin' very brave", the head of special ops voiced their opinion. "Helpin' us nowadays means getting thrown into a war. It's totally understandable that ya did not wish for that. An' just because someone feels guilty does not mean ever'one woulda done what ya did, riskin' their life t' get this Matrix of Leadership an' savin' Optimus Prime wit' it. Ya did good, kid. In fact ya did great an' even mah mate approves of that. So don't feel guilty anymore an' hold yer head proudly. Ya're a good kid, an' Ah won't think differently of ya because of this. An' that's final!"

The last sentence he added in a very firm and commanding voice, causing the human to look at him open mouthed.

"You really mean that?" he asked. "I mean, Bee tells me stuff like this all the time, but we are best friends, and friends are supposed to forgive each other and all that and personally I think he is a bit biased, because he protected me from the moment we met and Optimus is kinda nice to everyone so he doesn't count as well and I see I am rambling again so I stop now, just thank you again and all."

Sam trailed off, after noticing the grin the saboteur was showing. Through their bond Jazz could feel his own amusement was shared with Prowl as well, though he barely showed it on the outside.

/Doesn't he remind ya of some 'bot we all know an' love no matter th' ramblin'?/ the saboteur inquired with fondness floating through the bond. /Maybe yah end up as th' human's mentor as well? An' can ya see th' bright side? This time th' age'd be fine as well, jus' for yer comfort./

Prowl's only answer to that comment was a soft snort and a shake of his head. Jazz grinned.

* * *

><p>Done with talking, all three fell into a comfortable silence, until Sam suddenly roused to his two feet again, stepping up right to Barricade's massive form.<p>

"I do wonder", the human mused, "what did you look like before you became a Decepticon? Can you still remember that?"

The reaction was immediate. Tension filled the air and both mechs looked at the young man in a mix of surprise and mistrust.

"What makes yah think mah bondmate looked any different before he became a Deception?" Jazz asked trying to sound innocent and unconcerned about the question. Sam shrugged his shoulders. He looked at ease, either not noticing the effect of his question or simply ignoring it.

"It's just that with all the fights I've seen, I noticed a little pattern concerning the looks of the Decepticons", the young man tried to explain. "They usually look a lot spikier and more intimidating than you Autobots. No offense, Jazz, and I still think you guys look intimidating enough for me, but even though I personally think that your own looks differ a bit from the rest of your comrades, I still feel a bit more intimidated by Barricade there.

"Anyway, there is also the fact that, even though we had no chance to get to know each other before Mission City happened, this doesn't mean Bee did not tell me a lot about you. I know all about Meister, "Jazz", your hand in Bee's training, the crazy stuff you did", he paused for a moment before he added with a short smile, "and Prowl. Well, I know as much as Bee was willing to share. I realise by now that ops seems to be a lot about secrets, even after a member died. And since I got to know a bit about you within these three years, I have to agree with Bee.

"There is more to you suddenly having a Decepticon as bondmate. From what I was told, you are loyal to the Autobots and you were always faithful to Prowl. You would never hurt him on purpose and you would never defect, it's not your style. I think the fact that you put yourself in front of Megatron to save us, speaks for itself here."

At this, Sam threw a pointed look at Jazz before he concentrated his attention on Barricade.

"Then there is how I remember Barricade the first time we... well - met. And I can clearly say you are not the same mech. There is a difference in your actions. Given all these facts I conclude that Barricade was not a Decepticon to begin with. He might not even be one right now by choice. And because of that I have this hunch that he looked different before he had to join the Decepticons, for whatever reason it was."

Looking a bit unsure back and forth between the two mechs he was standing in front of, the young human timidly added.

"Am I right?"

Both mechs blinked their optics to work out their astonishment. Then they opened their mouths at the same time.

"You know about bonding?" Barricade asked while Jazz concluded.

"Damn, ya're sharp!"

Sam laughed a bit sheepishly before he became serious again.

"Well, yes, I know about bonding. Optimus and Ratchet both gave me a good long lecture about it", he stopped and added as an afterthought, "well I would say it was a rant in Ratch's case."

* * *

><p>"Sounds like old Hatchet", Jazz agreed sharing his amusement about the Autobot medical officer with his bondmate over their shared sparks. But he quickly sobered up again. After all, there were still open questions he suddenly had about Sam.<p>

"So, why are ya curious about mah bondmate's past looks?"

* * *

><p>Sam became serious as well, though a small, soft smile still played around his lips while he put his attention back on Barricade.<p>

"Well, I was wondering if you could humor me by offlining your optics for a moment and picturing your old looks inside your mind. I know this sounds strange and you have to put some trust in my actions here, but Jazz can watch and I promise, after that is done I will answer any question you might have. Would you accept this deal?"

* * *

><p>If Prowl and Jazz were surprised before, it was nothing of the confusion and wonderment they shared now. Looking at each other Prowl was the first to voice his thoughts inside their bond.<p>

/I cannot see the logic behind offlining one's optics and imagining a former appearance, Jazz/, the tactician said, sounding a bit helpless. His bondmate immediately sent soothing emotions through their bond though it was obvious to feel that he was confused as well.

/Ah'm not sure mahself what's goin' on here, Sparkles, but Ah have a strange feelin'. Not bad, mind yah. It's more like we should go an' do as th' human suggested, then see what's comin' out of it. Ah, for mah part, want answers. An' Ah can't imagine that Sam would do somethin' dangerous. He saved Optimus Prime's life an' he's a good boy. There's just somethin' strange about him right now, somethin' Ah'm itching t' find out what it is./

/Do you trust him?/ Prowl inquired, still uncertain.

Jazz looked down at the human who was returning the gaze with a serious but wide open face. After a long, long time of searching and judging the saboteur turned inwards to their bond again, without breaking contact with the young man's eyes.

/Yes, for now Ah trust him/, Jazz confidently agreed, trying to ease the concern of his bondmate.

/All right, I trust your judgment, Jazz/, Prowl conceded and moved his gaze on the human as well.

"We agree to your terms, Sam Witwicky."

* * *

><p>"Oh, cool, that's great", the young man happily replied before stumbling slightly over his next words. "Well, uhm, I guess you have to concentrate then and offline your optics."<p>

Barricade let out a steam of air through his vents, but obeyed.

"I don't see why I have to offline my optics", the mech said confused. "I can perfectly well picture my old looks without not seeing. I am guessing you humans have more problems with concentration, therefore you close your eyes, but we are created for multitasking."

"Uhm, actually it's more about me feeling uncomfortable being watched during this", Sam mumbled a bit embarrassed. Jazz, could not help the grin that escaped him at hearing this.

"Ya forget Ah'm here, too. Honestly Sam, ya're wanted by one of th' most dangerous mechs existing', ya quip at him while lookin' eye t' optic, an' ya worry about bein' looked at by someone ya obviously don't fear? Ya're a strange thing, really."

"Well, being normal was always a dream for others to fulfil", Sam answered sheepishly before looking pleadingly into Jazz's visor.

"Could you lift me up to his knee, Jazz? If you two don't mind, of course, but it would be a bit easier to do what I have to do than from the ground."

* * *

><p>Now even more curious than ever, the saboteur considered the human once again with a thoughtful look, but finally nodded. He remembered the deal and as long as he saw no danger for Prowl he would honour it.<p>

Carefully grabbing the young human, he sat him down right over his bondmate's kneejoint. Prowl, even though he could not see right now, had listened to everything and stretched his legs out, offering an easier surface for the human to stand on.

Sam thanked both mechs for their efforts before sitting down right where he stood. Jazz watched the human sit there for a moment. Curiously he noticed his whole body was tense and the young man was taking slow, deep breaths as if he was preparing himself for something big.

* * *

><p>What happened next surprised the head of special ops so much that he could not help the feelings seeping through the bond, causing Prowl to tense up. And when, with the first two feelings, indignation for the tactician's sake came along, Jazz could in answer feel his bondmate's intention to online his optics and find out what was going on.<p>

It seemed Sam had anticipated that however, because he timidly asked the mech he was sitting on to continue with concentrating and keep his optics offline. Jazz knew Prowl only obeyed that decision because he himself told him to do so.

* * *

><p>What Prowl did not know was that the moment Sam deemed himself ready for his next act, Jazz witnessed the young man taking out a knife and slashing the inside of his right hand with a suppressed curse and wince. That action shocked him immensely watching the human hurting himself all of the sudden without any obvious reason. But then the boy moved his bleeding hand and started to spread the viscous fluid on his bondmate's knee. That human was violating his bondmate's body!<p>

But before Prowl was even able to process the feelings he unintentionally sent and decided to online his optics in spite of Sam's requests, Jazz realized something more. Sam was not simply putting human blood on Barricade's knee, no he was drawing something, something familiar.

"Is that the sign for "origin"?" the saboteur asked the young man surprised, while silently telling his bonded for now everything was okay, to keep his optics offline and concentrating on imagine his old looks.

Sam looked up from what he was doing and gazed at Jazz's visor, eyes wide and surprised.

"You can read the language of the Primes?" he nearly shouted in disbelief.

Jazz could not help the grin, even though he was still greatly confused and still felt a bit indignant for his bondmate's dignity.

"Yeah, Ah can", he answered easily. "Though don't ask meh how, 'cause Ah ain't got th' slightest idea. Ah'm far older than ya think, Ah've seen a lot. However, Ah guess there're parts of mah life even Ah don't remember anymore."

"Damnit!" Sam moaned half as a joke, half in exasperation. "Where were you, when I really, REALLY needed someone to read the language of the Primes?"

"Why'd ya need someone t' read th' language of th' Primes anyway?" the saboteur curiously wanted to know.

"Oh, remember what I told you about seeing symbols that could lead us to the Matrix of Leadership?" Sam asked while he put the finishing touches on the sign he had been drawing on Barricade's knee with his own blood. "To find the Matrix, we had to follow the instructions that were only available in the language of the Primes and it took us AGES and a lot of trouble before we finally made a find."

"But now ya're obviously able t' read th' signs yerself, aren't ya?"

"Well, Optimus taught me", Sam admitted absent-mindedly, his gaze fixed on the finished symbol.

"Ah see", Jazz trailed off and looked back at the sign written by blood. Suddenly realization crossed his processor.

"Ya can understand us, can't ya?" he asked in the familiar clicks and chirps of his creation language.

For a moment, Sam looked up and sent the saboteur a witty smile before he touched the symbol he had drawn on Prowl's knee. And to the great shock of the Autobot Head of Ops, the blood started to glow.

tbc...


	12. Chapter 11

Part: 11/12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:  
>Vorn - 83 years<br>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>Prowl felt warm. It started out at the part where the human had touched him and, given what Jazz had talked about with the young man, written down something in the old language of the Primes. The warmth spread, slowly first, then gaining speed until suddenly his whole body was bathing in a comforting, relaxing heat.<p>

He would have been alarmed had it not been for his bondmate's feelings of awe and reassurance that there was no danger. Whatever happened, it left Jazz speechless, but it was also obviously nothing he deemed a danger for one of them, therefore the tactician did not put a halt to the action.

Prowl, while picturing his old looks, had listened carefully to every word his bonded exchanged with the human to gain as much information as he could of what was going on while he was not looking. But most of the vague comments were more confusing than anything else. What was going on? And when the warmth suddenly spread it left him feeling so nice that soon he simply forgot to care about the confusion he felt. And as long as Jazz did not instruct otherwise, Prowl trusted that it was safe to yield.

* * *

><p>Now the saboteur was shielding his thoughts and feelings as well as he could from his bondmate to ensure the tactician's concentration would stay solely on what Sam requested. Jazz had to admit it was hard to rein in his feelings, because every astrosecond seemed to be full of new surprises with the human boy.<p>

After Sam touched the symbol, the one that meant "origin", the blood started to glow and the light began to spread. Thin lines wandered all over his bondmate's body, writing more and more signs that seemed to sink into the bodyplates and stay there, still glowing. The journey of the light continued and did not end until every part of Prowl's body was covered with symbols.

Jazz recognized every character. They were all from the language of the Primes and he easily identified words like "body", "change" or "return" for example. It was not easy to continue reading though, because as soon as the light finished its journey, it intensified.

It took about ten astroseconds and then it seemed as if Prowl's body itself was glowing like what humans called a Christmas tree. By now the light was so bright that even the Autobots and human soldiers nearby noticed it and stopped their discussion to stare at what was going on with the two mechs and one human.

Jazz could hear Bumblebee shouting Sam's name and he certainly sensed his subordinate dashing towards them. The saboteur did not look, however. No, he was too fascinated by watching what was happening to his bondmate.

Sam had jumped down from where he sat right after the light started spreading and was standing beside the saboteur now. Together they could see how every part of the glowing mech's body seemed to come alive. Metal started to move, plates broke into really small parts, all transforming, growing, shrinking, trading places. Jazz would have been alarmed, sure his bondmate was suffering through immense pain, but thanks to the bond he knew that Prowl was not even aware of what was happening.

And quite the opposite to pain, the head of special ops could feel his mate's contentment, how he basked in feelings of warmth and comfort. It strangely enough seemed to spread even through the bond, because Jazz himself could not help but feel content and calm.

He no longer consciously noticed his surroundings, just barely recognized Optimus Prime asking them what was going on, of course without getting an answer. Then suddenly the light seemed to explode, forcing everyone, mecha and human alike, to look away.

When his senses told Jazz that it was safe to look again, he could barely believe what his optics took in. Gone was his restraint on the bond after seeing this. Shock, disbelief, surprise, happiness on the border of hysteria, undying love and giddy laughter flooded their sparks, and the saboteur was certain poor Prowl did not know which emotion to concentrate on first.

"Jazz?" the tactician asked out loud in their own language, uncertain if he would be heard through their bond when it was so filled to the brim with Jazz's uncontrolled emotions. He was so preoccupied, that he did not even realize his voice was no longer sounding like the foreign bark of the Decepticon-created Barricade.

Slowly, the saboteur came down from what felt like the greatest high in vorns. He could hear the murmurs around him, recognizing human and Cybertronian language, determining that all of the Autobots were standing around Sam and him by now. But he did not care.

The differences, the mistrust, it all was forgotten, gone from his processor and he did not doubt from everyone else's as well. They all had eyes only for the one mech who sat beside Jazz, optics still offline and his face obviously showing emotions of confusion, a rare occurrence on that handsome face.

"Jazz!" this time Prowl's question was more forceful, more urgent, accompanied by a hard burst of emotion through their bond that was able to penetrate through Jazz's wild accumulation of emotions.

"Ah think it's safe for ya t' online yer optics now, Prowler", the saboteur told his bondmate softly.

Hesitantly, because he was definitely still confused about the whole situation, the tactician's optics could be seen onlining. The light was soft at the beginning, but soon he was clearly looking at them and his optics glowed in the most wonderful blue that Jazz had ever seen.

* * *

><p>Prowl took in the scene before him. By his side, Jazz was looking at him in a mixture of barely contained disbelief and happiness. And though it was not exactly typical, the tactician also noticed adoration both in his bondmate's gaze and through their bond.<p>

Beside Jazz stood Sam, who looked content, though also very satisfied. And then there were the Autobots. Optimus Prime was taking in his form, as if seeing him for the first time. Chromia, Ironhide and even Ratchet seemed to have lost all their wits, while Jolt shook his head again and again in blatant disbelief. Arcee stood stock still, her gaze seeming to burn into his frame, while Bumblebee was shooting shocked glances from him to Sam and back again. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe however stared at the tactician open mouthed, looking for all it was worth as if they had just seen a ghost.

The humans did not fare any better. Most of them were rubbing their eyes, as if they needed to assure themselves that nothing was wrong with their sight. Others seemed rather confused about what was going on. It was comforting to know that he was not the only one feeling like he was missing something. Again he turned his head back to his bondmate, who had lost all look of disbelief, leaving him content and gloating instead.

For a third time, the tactician tried to get an answer out of the saboteur.

"Jazz, what the frag is going on?"

* * *

><p>Okay, Prowl was definitely frustrated. Enough that he still did not recognize the change in his voice. And if things continued like this, especially with mecha and humans acting like they did, his battle computer would certainly crash very, very soon, because it simply could not handle the current situation.<p>

Jazz however realized where his thoughts and fears were going and finally broke out of his stupor.

"Origin", Jazz whispered at his bondmate in explanation before he glanced down at the young human. "It acted as the command for the change, didn't it?"

Then the saboteur looked back at Prowl, a soft smile playing around his lipplattes.

"Ya've been changed, Prowler", he explained to his hopelessly confused bondmate and gestured over to the main farmhouse that offered some big windows, at last big enough to act as a small mirror. "Look at ya yerself."

He watched his bondmate getting up and walking over to the house as if on autopilot. It started to worry Jazz a bit. He hoped that their reactions and his own feelings had not overwhelmed his bonded to the point of an immediate processor crash. Wouldn't 'that' be fun for Ratchet who was already concerned enough with the saboteur's own status of health?

The reminder of his own condition turned out to be the last straw concerning Jazz's actions and willpower. Exhaustion seemed to return tenfold and suddenly he could feel the hurt and pain that stemmed from the barely healed and hopelessly overworked injury on his middle not to mention the pain his strained spark emitted. His legs began to shake and with a groan, Jazz crashed to the ground, no longer able to stand and nearly crushing the unsuspecting Sam in the process.

* * *

><p>Prowl had barely had time to take a look into the windows of the house. What he saw there in glimpses shocked him to no end. Instead of red optics and a black and white, sharp and dangerous looking body of a Decepticon, he was glimpsing blue, glowing optics and the dark grey form of a prototype form, with two white doorwings on its back and a red chevron on his forehead. It was the typical built protoform of a Praxian, with the original colours Prowl possessed before he replaced his protoform with a scan of a Cybertronian Enforcer vehicle.<p>

As shocking as the view was, the tactician had no time to even digest what he saw, because he could feel his mate's exhaustion and pain crash through the bond. He heard Jazz falling and immediately the disbelief and danger of a crash were forgotten. He turned away from the vague image he had had of himself and ran back right to Jazz's side, even bypassing an alarmed Ratchet in his haste to be beside his bonded.

"Oh Jazz", Prowl sighed as he took the broken form of the saboteur into his arms.

"M'okay", Jazz weakly tried to wave the concern away and tiredly grinned up into his bondmate's brightly, blue glowing optics. "So, whadd'ya think of yer new looks?"

For an astrosecond, the body of the tactician stiffened. Then Prowl slowly raised one hand to his face, while the other was still tightly wound around the saboteur's upper body for support. Disbelief, and barely dared to belief hope filled the bond as Prowl watched the moves he did with dark grey fingers who were not one bit looking like claws, but instead familiar and more than welcome.

"I... can't believe... is that really me?" the original Autobot second in command asked no one in particular, his gaze still fixed on the hand in front of him.

"That's ya, all right", Jazz confirmed with a fond smile before he turned his gaze to the silent Autobots and humans standing around them, fixing especially the twins with a hard glare. "Th' only mech Ah would EVER accept as a bondmate, no matter what happens!"

* * *

><p>Those words finally brought the Autobots out of their shocked stupor. Sideswipe blinked his optics twice before glancing from Jazz to Prowl and back.<p>

"But I...", the twin stuttered totally confused. He recognized the protoform. It was not the same as how Prowl had looked when they met, but whatever a Cybertronian scanned in their lives, they would always closely resemble their original protoform. Something that did no longer count of course when someone underwent a forceful change. But now with the white, proud doorwings, suddenly the mech that was supposed to be Barricade, looked damn familiar. Yes, he certainly recognized Prowl the moment the lights stopped glowing and revealed the protoform it created.

But while Sideswipe tried to form words, it was Sunstreaker who lost his patience.

"What the frag is going on here?" the vain loving twin snarled in the vague direction of Jazz and Prowl, not sure who was supposed to be addressed with this question in first place. "First I have to keep my brother from slagging Jazz because he seems to have taken a Decepticon as his bondmate and then suddenly we witness a lightshow that turns Barricade into the protoform of a mech that looks suspiciously like Prowl, who Chromia just told us was supposed to be dead? The pit, this is it, I've had enough I want answers and I want them now!"

Jazz raised his head a bit, which he had leaned against Prowl's breastplates in exhaustion and smiled tiredly at the golden coloured twin.

"That's why Ah told ya that Ah woulda known if Prowl was dead or not, Sunstreaker", the saboteur explained calmly. "He's mah bonded, if he'd died Ah woulda been dead, simple as that."

A gasp went through the ranks of the Autobots while Will Lennox just looked confused at his friend and comrade Robert Epps.

"Do you get the feeling we are missing something big here?" Will asked and Epps nodded in agreement. They did not ask further, both men having realized that their bigger build comrades had to sort out the situation for themselves first, before any explanation could be given to their human allies.

And as luck had it, at last one 'bot already realized that there was someone else, besides Jazz and the seemingly rediscovered Prowl, who could give some answers. Bumblebee did not look at any of the mechs in question. Instead he stepped over to his human charge and kneeled down beside him, to offer his hand.

"Sam?"

tbc...


	13. Chapter 12

As always, first I thank all the people who took the time to leave some feedback. You guys are the greatest! Now enjoy the final chapter of this story.

Part: 12/12+  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:  
>Vorn - 83 years<br>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

glitchhead – idiot

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p><em>And as luck had it, at last one 'bot already realized that there was someone else, besides Jazz and the seemingly rediscovered Prowl, who could give some answers. Bumblebee did not look at any of the mechs in question. Instead he stepped over to his human charge and kneeled down beside him, to offer his hand.<em>

"Sam?" the yellow Camero asked simply.

His friend accepted the silent offer and allowed Bumblebee to raise him into the air. The young man grinned sheepishly before looking over at Prowl.

"Uhm, I am sorry that it's your protoform, not the one your friends should be used to," the human started. "But to erase what had been done to you, everything had to be taken down and the best way to reset things was to start at the beginning. That's why I used "Origin". Oh and one more thing. I have this feeling that a police car would be exactly the model you prefer for a new scan but... could you maybe not choose a Saleen this time? I have to admit, I was perfectly at ease with you because in your mech form it's easier to interpret how you act. However, I guess if I see you driving up looking like Barricade did at our first meeting, I might have a heart attack because it reminds me a bit too much of the chases we had."

Sam looked away, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. But Prowl was also looking away, not able to look the human in the eyes for the moment.

"I am sorry about what happened back then, Sam", the tactician told him sincerely. But the young man simply waved the apology away, a small smile on his lips.

"Oh don't worry about that, it's not your fault. After all, that was not you, wasn't it?"

"No, it was not", Prowl agreed, looking back to the human. "And for whatever you did here, I am very thankful. I do wonder though, could you use your power for Jazz as well? He's seriously injured, and I would feel a lot better to know that he is going to be alright."

Sam did not answer immediately. He looked over at Jazz, before his gaze returned to Prowl and everyone could see hesitation clearly written on his face.

"About that", he began slowly, "I am certainly willing to help Jazz, yes. It's just that it is still really difficult for me to handle all this and to be honest I don't think I've got enough energy left. I'm thankful I can still stand, to be honest my legs feel a bit wobbly."

"And you knew this would be the case", Prowl realized, feeling oddly calm, but he still could not help the disbelief that crossed his processor at the same time. "But if you were aware you could only help one of us, why did you not cure Jazz first? My looks are not life threatening and I would have survived some more orns or even stellar-cycles like that if I had to."

"But Jazz's injuries are no longer life threatening, Prowl", Sam explained softly. "Thanks to you, Jazz is at least stable and the rest Ratchet will be able to take care of."

The young man was quick to continue when he noticed that the tactician wanted to protest.

"No, listen to me! I spoke the truth when I told you that I found you to be different today. But I can also admit now that the Allspark was getting a lot more than what I would ever be able to grasp. It can feel, it senses things, and it tried to tell me that you've been wronged, that this is not how you were supposed to be. I listened to the Decepticons' talk, I witnessed the fight between you and the Autobots and I have to admit that I heard nearly all of what Jazz said before I made myself known to you. I... **was** considering healing Jazz at first, because the injuries still look quite serious. But after listening to your talk, the Allspark and I decided that for both your sakes it was far more important to do something about the trust and the hope you have lost.

"Yes, it is true that Megatron was resurrected and yes, the shell of the original Allspark was destroyed, but that does not mean its power is lost, that hope is lost. There is still hope, Jazz! I realized that it was finally time for me to stop hiding, out of fear what the Decepticons might do or what my friends would think of me. All these stupid assumptions that while offering my help, I still needed to hide the fact that I will never, ever be normal in any aspect again. That moment, when I heard you two talking, it was clear that hope is what you two needed most, even more than healing Jazz. And this is why I decided to change you back into the 'bot you are supposed to be while revealing my greatest secret."

Sam, still standing on Bumblebee's hand, fixed his eyes on the tactician's optics and a soft smile lifted the corner of his lips.

"Welcome to Earth, Autobot designated Prowl!"

* * *

><p>"Prowl!" To everyone's surprise it was Sideswipe who voiced his thoughts before anyone else. "This really is Prowl! Oh Primus, damn the Decepticons!"<p>

And before anyone could react the twin had run forward and enveloped the tactician in a crushing hug.

"Primus, Prowl I am sorry about what I said before", Sideswipe whimpered, faceplates buried into the protoform's shoulderplate. "I am so sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn't know."

"Of course you did not know", Prowl replied softly, awkwardly returning the hug with one hand, while the other was still busy steadying his tired mate. Through the bond the Autobot tactician could feel Jazz's satisfaction over the situation and the even the small feeling of triumph that he had been right and Sideswipe was indeed accepting Prowl right back. The twin was not even asking for more explanations how Barricade and Prowl could be one and the same.

Finally the twin seemed to remember where he was and he released the poor tactician from his grasp only to look over at Jazz.

"I am sorry about what I said to you as well, Jazz", Sideswipe offered. "Bee was right, I should have allowed you to explain before making judgements."

"Nyaa", the saboteur simply waved the frontliner away, an honest grin on his face. "Ya acted driven by th' facts ya saw. That's nothin' new for ya an' Ah cannot honestly fault ya. Besides ya were tryin' t' protect Prowl an' that alone 's reason enough for meh t' forgive ya."

Sidewipe optics glowed brightly for a moment with emotion before he nodded his head in thanks to the head of special ops.

"It's good to see you functioning, Jazz; really", he added and both, saboteur and tactician smiled softly first at Sideswipe, then over at Sunstreaker who had watched from the sideline, but inclined his head in agreement the moment their gazes met.

"It is good to see you functioning, too, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker", Prowl replied earnestly.

* * *

><p>"All right, so this is really you, Prowl?" Ironhide was the next to ask, still a bit in shock. However, there was another 'bot who seemed to be not as shocked as to not noticed some questions that were still left unanswered.<p>

"So what the pit happened here?" Ratchet asked while by now kneeling besides the injured Jazz to look him over. The commanding medical officer had finally had enough of the standing around and decided it was time to indulge in his duties as a medic, since the state Jazz was in still concerned him. Checking the saboteur for the severity of his injuries did not keep him from asking questions, however.

"I've seen a lot of strange things in my life and this war, but I certainly never believed there was a technique that involves glowing symbols that could change mecha with a scanned form back to their original protoform. And why the frag should I think Sam had any good reason to get himself involved? What in Primus name **did** you do anyway?"

All gazes, 'bots and human alike immediately fell on the young man still standing on Bumblebee's hand. Sam clearly shrunk just where he was and swallowed hard. Then he looked around. First at Bee, his friend, his guardian, who was watching him silently with bright, knowing optics. Then at the other Autobots and those of the human soldiers who knew the whole truth about the Allspark. Both factions were looking at him quite stunned. One exception seemed to be Optimus Prime, however. He looked thoughtful and even a bit like he was not all that amazed about what he was learning here. At least, everything besides the fact that Barricade turned out to be his own second in command.

* * *

><p>Then there were Jazz and Prowl surrounded by the twins and a seething Ratchet. After both officers witnessed the power and results of the young man's efforts, it was a bit hard to surprise them any further. Especially since with the information they collected and the observations Jazz had made ever since the human's arrival, they already had their own suspicions. The only thing they did not expect was to see guilt and even fear in the young human's eyes.<p>

But Sam acted bravely. No matter what he feared right now, he was determined to honour his promise to Jazz of answering questions - though technically this one was not asked by either Jazz or Prowl - and it was time to end the secrets he had successfully kept from his guardian til now anyway.

"Last year, as some of you remember, I suddenly started seeing symbols inside my head after I found and touched a splinter of the Allspark. Then, all that shit with the Decepticons and Egypt happened and I was so busy with that Matrix of Leadership-stuff, that I had no time to consider if the visions would stop after all was over or not. It turned out that it didn't stop. It just changed. Instead of receiving uncontrolled visions and having breakdowns, the symbols came in small, manageable shifts every now and then."

Sam stopped again and looked over at Optimus, his look apologetic.

"Sometime I finally realized that even at the beginning the Allspark was simply trying to communicate with me. Back then it was just an urgent message, that's why it caused me to go nearly crazy. And now that the important stuff was over, it simply kept trying to communicate but just in small waves, to hint at me but not overdo it. I realized that it seemed the only way to get something across was through these signs that I unfortunately could not read. That's why I decided to go to you, Optimus and asked if you could teach me the language of the Primes."

"And teach you I did", the leader of the Autobots confirmed, not sounding angry or upset, as Sam had feared he might. "And you learned well. In less than two stellar-cycles you were able to read and write every character I could ever teach you. By then I already suspected that the influence of the Allspark had not left you, Sam. But as you obviously had not talked to anyone about it I thought it was best to leave you alone and wait til you came to one of us on your own."

"Oh", Sam looked at Optimus with wide, surprised eyes. "I did not know that. Well... I guess thank you for that, then. And I'm sorry that it took me so long to finally start talking."

He looked back over to the now more or less patiently waiting mecha and humans, knowing there were still missing parts of his explanation.

"Well, after I learned the language and was able to read what the Allspark sent me, it started to more or less talk to me. I received ideas, information and comments sometimes and it also explained how the hell I happened to end up with it in first place and how all of the sudden I started to even understand the mecha around me when you guys spoke in your creation language."

"Slaggit you understood when Sunny and I made fun of your plans of surprising your girlfriend with this candle light dinner two weeks ago?" Sideswipe could not help but burst out in surprise when he realized the consequences of what Sam just told them. "No wonder you looked so sour every time we came into your range or view."

Sam could not help but grin after Sideswipe's inquiry.

"Oh you seem to have forgotten the fact that you tend to plan your newest pranks surrounded by human because you, of course, assume that they do not understand you anyway", he pointed out, eyes glinting with amusement. The twins looked at each other, before Sideswipe groaned and asked suspiciously.

"You are not planning to rat us out or blackmail us, Sam, are you?"

"Mmmh, I will have to think about what I'll do with the information", Sam joked. This was immediately met with protests.

"Oh no!" Prowl denied with bright glowing optics. "If any of the plans have not been put into action by the time I am back on duty I want to know EVERYTHING."

This caused Sideswipe to look at the second in command incredulously while Jazz started to snicker.

"Don't expect his attitude t' have changed too much, Sides", the saboteur grinned at the twin.

"Well, that will have to take time", Ratchet interrupted the argument vigorously, "as for the immediate future you two will certainly both be on medical leave until I tell you otherwise. And besides that, Sam has not finished the story yet. Personally I am certainly very interested as to what exactly the Allspark has done to him."

"Well", Sam continued slowly, "it's just that, the Allspark cannot be destroyed. The Allspark is not the stone but more or less the energy that resided within. The only thing that can happen is that this energy is forced to transfer. In this case, after losing its original shell because the energy required was too much for the stone to handle, the Allspark energy jumped onto the best next thing it could find and that happened to be me."

"So, the Allspark transferred inside your body?" Ratchet curiously asked and promptly ran a scan over the young man as if to search for the precious energy inside the human's body. Sam grinned shyly at the medic beside Jazz and shook his head.

"It's not that easy, Ratchet", he told him. "What the Allspark described to me was that it used the bleeding wounds I've received from the fight to its advantage. It transformed more or less into my blood and over the coming months it spread. By now, as far as I understand, my original blood is all gone. Every drop of blood I have is the essence of the Allspark. It runs through my whole body, it's able to enhance certain parts like muscles if needed and it stimulates my brain. When it communicates with me, it touches my brain and sends the signs of the old language. Also, this is why I had to cut my hand and write down whatever the Allspark instructs me to on whatever I want to influence with its energy. As my family motto goes, "no sacrifice, no victory", which I am starting to hate, by the way."

Sam stopped here and for the first time since he started explaining he dared to look up at his friend, who was still holding him within his hand.

"I'm sorry that you have to learn about my secret like this, Bumblebee", the young man told his car dejectedly. "I swear you were supposed to be the first one I would tell about this, but I guess til now I was too afraid. When I first found out what the Allspark did to me, I was frightened, really, really frightened. I saw myself as a total freak, thought about what would happen if any humans found out. And I remembered very well the chase Megatron gave me, when I had the cube or even when I started to see the symbols. I just did not want that again, things were already bad enough with how it was with Megatron still alive and me on the big hit list of the Decepticons. And then..." he hesitated again, looking up at Bumblebee, who was looking back with brightly glowing optics, then at the rest of the Autobots who stood behind them.

"I am sorry, you guys. I know we're friends and I really like you all but I was very aware how much the Allspark meant to you and I was even more afraid that if you found out that the Allspark became a part of me, that you would treat me differently. I realise a human who knows alien robots who can transform into nearly anything, will never be normal and I guess I should've accepted that by now. But I value being treated like a simple being, not some holy piece of stone that's supposed to be worshipped. I think that was the greatest reason why I was not able to overcome my fear and tell you about this.

"It wasn't until I saw and really recognized how hopeless some of you might feel because you all think the source of your life is truly gone. If nothing else, the events of today revealed to me that I've been acting stupid, again, and it needed to stop. So I started with returning Prowl to his original form, saving you the grief to further continue all that misplaced distrust and discussion. Besides, who wants to destroy such a beautiful love story as the one Bee told me about Prowl and Jazz, because you were all wrongly assuming Jazz had betrayed Prowl with a Decepticon?"

Some of the 'bots, including Sideswipe and Jazz, started to chuckle at that and even Bee was chortling out a small laugh with his still not perfectly functioning vocaliser. He also started to play an extract of clapping from whatever radio show he had found while his free hand gave his human a small, playful shove.

Sam, who by now was well accustomed with Bee's way of communication, got tears in his eyes. He indicated for his guardian-friend to bring him near his faceplates and when he was able to reach it, he enveloped as much of the face into a hug, as he could.

"Thanks, Bee", the young man chocked out, the other mecha and humans watching the scene with small smiles on their faces.

"Sam, we would never treat you differently, even if the Allspark became a part of you now", Optimus Prime also addressed the human in his solemn voice, optics shining brightly with too many emotions. "We did not forget that you are a feeling, intelligent being and as such we would never dare to treat you like an object."

"Yeah, that's the Decepticon way of not-thinking", Ironhide added with a growl, Chromia nodding beside him in agreement.

"And Sam, we NEST soldiers have been fighting with the 'bots together for nearly three years now", Will Lennox softly voiced his own opinion. "We've already had our disagreements with the government and their stupid misjudging. None of us would ever utter a word outside of NEST about your new condition, not if they value their life among their comrades. We stick together."

"Yeah and you are part of our crazy group now", Robert Epps added with a grin, "whether you like it or not."

Sam had to suppress a laugh and a sob at the same time. He looked around the assembled Autobots and NEST soldiers with shining eyes.

"Thank you guys, thanks a lot", he told them sincerely.

* * *

><p>Prowl and Jazz watched the whole exchange between their comrades and the human; meanwhile Ratchet had turned back to prod and scan the injured saboteur, for now no longer interested in his outside world since he deemed the wounds more important to take care of.<p>

/What do ya think, Sparkles?/ Jazz asked his mate over the bond, also throwing some ideas and images through. Prowl analysed what he received before finally nodding himself, satisfied.

/It's a good decision and we owe him anyway/, the tactician agreed.

/Great, it's decided then!/ Jazz exclaimed, pleased and turned his gaze back to the young human, who was still fighting to get his emotions back under control.

"Hey Sam", Jazz addressed him and waited until questioning eyes focused at his visor hidden optics. "For what ya did for us, we'll be forever grateful. Therefore, an' in light of th' current circumstances, we decided, as soon as we're back on duty, we'll take ya under our servos. We'll promise t' help Bee protectin' ya an' we'll teach ya a few tricks t' keep th' 'Cons on their pedes, should they ever find out about yer little secret."

The declaration surprised more than just the affected human, who was at a loss of words. Someone else though, was less impressed and had a lot to say about this.

"Oh, great, not even healed but already planning your next move", Ratchet snarked and gave the head of special ops as forceful whack to the head for good measure. "Obviously I did not make myself clear when I told you that for now you two will be doing nothing but rest until I say otherwise."

Finally fed up with what he knew to be two of the most workaholic 'bots he had the displeasure of knowing - though in Jazz's case he simply was not comfortable with the idea of resting for too long - Ratchet glared over at where Optimus Prime stood.

"Optimus, I don't care how you do it, I want a transport to get those two glitchheads back to Diego Garcia. I want them in my medbay and I want them there yesterday! Get it done!"

Optimus was not the only one who shrank back under the forceful words of the medic. Bee and Sam, as well as some other 'bots and humans however could not help the chuckles on the mortified Jazz and Prowl's behalf.

"Ratchet is right", Optimus Prime did agree. "Let's get you home."

"Home... ", Jazz whispered wistfully, hope obvious in his voice that he might call a place other than Cybertron that. He looked at Prowl who gazed back serenely while sending his love over their bond.

"Home!" the tactician agreed. Because home was wherever their loved one would be.

End

* * *

><p>Author's note:<p>

But before you think this was it, there is an Epilogue waiting for you, so one more chapter to go, please enjoy! ^^


	14. Epilogue

And here we are and the really final part. It has been a great time with you!

Part: Epilogue/12  
>Author: Usagi-Atemu-Tom<br>Warnings: slash, SPOILER for Transformers Movies 1+2  
>Pairings: JazzProwl  
>Feedback: Please, yes, I love feedback! =^^=<p>

**IMPORTANT: I posted two chapters today - don't miss out on chapter 12!**

Summary: When one mech is on the edge of being offlined forever, another mech realises the truth of his past and the destiny he is supposed to have. But what do you do, when you wake up from the brink of death just to stare into the eyes of what is supposed to be the enemy? If you happen to be an ops mech – you collect your answers of course.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine I don't make money with it and write only for fun and to get better in writing English. ^_^

Helpful Pointers:  
>Vorn - 83 years<br>Stellar-cycle – 7.5 months  
>Orn - 13 days<br>Joor - 8 hours  
>Breem - 6 minutes<br>Astrosecond - 5/6ths of a second  
>Klick - 1 millisecond<p>

"..." - Speaking  
>.../ – Sparkbond speaking

Please note that I've only ever watched the two movies from 2007 and 2009. While I've 'met' a lot of Transformers from the comics and cartoons, that more often than not show up in fanfics I, of course, have not seen them in action and therefore might not be able to interpret their characters right. I am using mostly what I've learned through the movie (and maybe fanfics) and while catching some ideas here and there I am mainly using my very own ideas for things like energon, space bridges and so on.

And not to forget, much thanks to Taralynden for betareading.

Also, the inspiration for Prowl's and Jazz's past was mostly taken from the fanfic 'Story of a lifetime' written by the wonderful Taralynden. This was taken with her permission. Go and read her story, you'll love it.

* * *

><p>"Heya Prowler", Jazz greeted his bondmate who was attentively working on a console in the hangar that was solely for analyses and tactical planning.<p>

Of course Prowl did not need to look up to know that his bonded was nearby. He had felt Jazz's return in his spark even before the aircraft landed on the island.

"Jazz, please stop addressing me like that during work", the Autobot tactician and second in command greeted stoically. But while on the outside he seemed to be unaffected, the love and relief he sent over their bond spoke more than any words and facial expressions ever could.

"Autobot Jazz reportin' back from successful mission", the saboteur mock saluted before he grinned widely.

"Good", Prowl looked up from his console to take a closer look at his bondmate. "And I hope you did not delay to try and find Starscream for fulfilling your revenge on my behalf?"

Jazz made a face but shook his head in negative.

"Sadly enough Ah've done this job for too long", he sighed regretfully. "It's frustratin' but Ah'm not willin' t' risk our life like that an' make a beginner's mistake just for that stupid seeker. 'Specially not after all we went through t' stay alive."

"That is a relief to know", Prowl sighed. And Jazz was right, they went through a lot to come where they stood now.

* * *

><p>Back on that eventful day, after Optimus Prime was finally able to organize their return to Diego Garcia with the help of Major Lennox, Jazz and Prowl immediately ended up in Ratchet's medbay for many, many joors. The saboteur was suffering from serious injuries, and running around shooting Decepticons before stabbing his own spark had not helped him along the lines of getting better. The exhausted but stubborn head of ops had finally fallen into stasis the moment they boarded their plane. Prowl had had to carry his bondmate to the medbay himself after their arrival.<p>

The tactician himself had been fine, honestly. He was simply exhausted, nursing some phantom pains from what came over the bond when Jazz nicked his spark and of course was not willing to leave his mate alone for even an astrosecond. Sam had offered to heal Jazz the moment he regained strength to speed up the process, but Optimus requested that the human should reserve his power for a time when the Autobots might really need his help if he was willing to give it.

Prowl also pointed out his worry that if Sam started such simple healing sessions, he might end up being seen and used as a tool accidently, something they all knew was the last thing the human wanted. As long as Jazz was stable and not in danger of offlining, things would be all right; after all they had the best medic ever functioning. In the end Sam could do nothing but give in.

Ratchet, on the other hand, wanted to keep both mechs in his medbay for some time anyway to make some tests. He had a lot of questions about the sample hidden in his subspace as well as how Prowl kept Jazz alive til now, among other things.

* * *

><p>When the Autobots found out what exactly this Decepticon virus was about, they were furious. Ratchet most of all. It went against all his ethical beliefs as a trained medic to do what Soundwave and Starscream put Prowl through. The twins were right behind Ratchet in their anger and fury. They had to be held back by their friends and comrades before they could threaten the humans to help them vent their anger on the nearest Decepticon patrol.<p>

It was not until Jazz awakened again and promised the two of them dibs on Starscream and Soundwave whenever he caught them, that the twins calmed down. After all, they were not stupid enough to not realise just how furious Jazz of all mecha was about what happened to Prowl. And they agreed that as their bondmate he had the right to give out punishment first.

* * *

><p>Jazz and Prowl being bondmates, a real couple bound by sparks, turned out to be the next problem, just when Jazz was nearly healed again. Both of them wanted to work, to offer their skills and help in this continuing war with the Decepticons. What followed was a long, heated discussion about the serious breach of an Autotbot rule as well as the problems it would cause if the two officers returned to their previous jobs. In the end it was Sam, who pointed out that if the Autobots continued to see a bond - a serious, precious commitment of love - as a nuisance, they would be allowing the Decepticons to intimidate them. Also, if it were not for the bond, they might have never found out about this dangerous virus and who knew how many Autobots could have fallen victim to it in the future. As it stood now, Ratchet, Wheeljack and the recently arrived Perceptor were furiously working on an antivirus that would grant protection for every member of their team should they ever end up in the position of receiving that virus.<p>

Sam also made it clear that the Allspark itself disapproved of an oppression of sparkbonds. After all Jazz and Prowl had revealed themselves to have been bonded longer than any of them could have guessed even after the secret of the bond itself was out, and were they not the best proof that a bonded couple could still dedicate their all to the war as those two had done?

In the end everyone agreed for Prowl and Jazz to return to their old posts. However, should they ever show the slightest signs of prejudice in their decision making because of the bond, they would have at least to be reduced from their current positions.

* * *

><p>Finally about to be back at work, it was decided that Prowl definitely needed a new altmode. His decision in the end fell on a Chevrolet Camaro the newest model for a police car, fresh out of production. Jazz fell in love with the new looks at first sight.<p>

Also, the first thing Prowl did on his first day back in command was taking Bumblebee and Sam aside to discuss their future plan of training, much to Jazz's amusement. Bee, of course was already well trained. And since he was the human's guardian, both tactician and saboteur deemed it the best course of action if the yellow Camero introduced his charge into special ops while Prowl took care of the tactical training. It turned out that the young man had a sharp mind, just as Jazz once mentioned. While not in possession of a battle computer or any other advanced equipment as Prowl possessed, Sam made up his lack of technical parts with good instincts. Also, he had a better understanding of humans and their ways of thinking, something that would stress the second in command to no end sometimes. Casual training to build a bit of backbone against Decepticons soon turned into serious training to become Prowl's first human tactical apprentice.

* * *

><p>Life went on and right now Jazz had finally returned from his first outside mission at a Decepticon base. Usually the head of special ops and third in command was supposed to send his men who were serving in special ops, something that had never sat well with Jazz who was more used to action than giving out commands and reading reports. But sadly enough, the group of Autobots on Earth was still small and the ops unit in particular suffered from a serious lack of members. Using Meister was one of the few options the Autobots had for a sabotage or espionage mission and no one could deny that til today, Meister had always been the best in his job.<p>

"So, where's that little protégé of yers", Jazz teasingly asked.

* * *

><p>To Prowl's chagrin he quickly turned from Sam's trainer to his mentor, just as the saboteur had once jokingly mentioned and of course his bondmate made sure to let his amusement be known about the turn of events every day. Sam had been totally confused about why the saboteur was starting to laugh every time he went to Prowl for something or another, but to their surprise it was Bluestreak who realized the connection and explained to the human that he acted towards Prowl like one did to a parent.<p>

Sam was first embarrassed about this, thinking he might have insulted the Autobot tactician. This only increased Jazz's amusement, because now Prowl had no choice but to admit that he did not mind to have another protégé. And Bluestreak himself thought it was just great to have a younger alien "brother".

* * *

><p>"Sam is in the communication hangar with Major Lennox and Blaster to explain out newest plan to the higher officer of NEST and hopefully get approval for it", Prowl told his mate, completely ignoring his amusement.<p>

"Nya, don't worry, th' boy will do jus' fine, as always", Jazz reassured his mate, because he knew Prowl would be fretting about the question of approval until he got it. "Since ya two started workin' t'gether, th' probability rate for success's raised an' Sam's workin' his charm's of speech so well th' commanders started t' listen to'im, even though he's still half a boy."

"Thank Primus for that", Prowl agreed before adding his signature to the last document. Jazz, sensing his mate was finished for now, pulled a cube of energon out of subspace and handed it over to his bondmate.

"Are ya finished for today or do ya have t' wait for th' results of Sam's conference?" he asked with a predatory smile on his face. "Because while th' mission was easy, Ah kinda missed ya an' th' return t' base really left meh comin' up wit' some temptin' ideas what Ah would like t' do wit' ya."

"Jazz!" Prowl groaned, especially when the cheeky saboteur simply sent over some of the ideas he had in mind through their bond. The tactician looked around, to make sure no one heard them, before releasing air through his vents in a gesture of surrender.

"I am free to go. Sam is supposed to report directly to Prime after he is done and he can always leave a message over the comm-line for me."

"Great, let's go then!"

Jazz eagerly grabbed a hesitating Prowl's hand and waved an over-enthusiastic goodbye to the twins, who had the tendency to always stay near Prowl on and off duty when Jazz was not in sight.

Watching over Prowl's safety had begun as their punishment as given by Optimus for their latest disobedience on that fateful day Jazz and Prowl had been found alive.

The tactician had been surprised how light their reprimand turned out to be and even the saboteur could not disagree that the twins got off rather easy with the duty of protecting his bondmate. However, he and Prowl found out later that without their disobedience Bumblebee and Sam would have been alone against three seekers.

As the youngest mecha of their tight-knit group, most Autobots were rather fond of the Camaro transformer and they did not like the idea of him coming to harm. Therefore, the unpredicted back up he received left the other bots rather thankful and moved even Optimus toward a lenient sentence. Not that the Autobot commander had a history for being stern anyway. That had always been Prowl' repertoire.

The twins took their sentence in stride, after all it gave them the chance to catch up with Prowl and Jazz. In fact, by the time their punishment ended, the two troublemakers refused to abandon their new task and instead continued to watch over Prowl every time Jazz had to go out on a mission.

Even when the Auotbot third in command returned they tended to linger for a bit longer, usually until Jazz started to act all "lovey-dovey", as they liked to use the human term, with Prowl. That was their obvious cue to leave, if the bondmates did not leave first as it was the case right now when the saboteur tugged the tactician after him.

"Jazz!" the second in command's words of protest were immediately silenced by a quick kiss and a laugh.

"Yer off duty an' therefore all mine!" the saboteur announced and both vanished inside the constantly increasing base of Diego Garcia, the little island in the middle of the ocean.

The place Prowl and Jazz could call home. Because they were there, together.

The End

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><p>Author's note:<p>

Wow, so finally we reached the finish. I want to again thank every single reader who followed through with reading this story. Especially those who took the time to leave a review with their thoughts, ideas or simple wished to express their like of this story. Your words meant a lot to me and were a great companion through all the time till the end of this story. So, THANK YOU ALL!


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